The Return of the Ultimate Enemy
by White Jaguar
Summary: Danny's dark evil alternate self manages to escape and is ready to wreck havoc. However another Phantom from the future comes ready to do anything to stop the Dark Phantom...the future Dani Phantom herself! She must team up with the original/current Danny Phantom in order to stop this evil ghost and the destruction he will cause.
1. The Return and the Revelation

Chapter 1

The Return

"What you gonna do now Phantom?! You're outnumbered, outmatched, and I have your friends as ransom! So don't try any tricks!" Yelled Youngblood in his cocky tone. His skeleton crew chuckled as if he told a hilarious joke.

Danny's mind raced. He was currently tied with some ghost power cancelling cord and his best friends Tucker and Sam were being held in a ghostly net by a large burly ghost pirate. Not to mention that Youngblood held his sword up to Danny's throat.

"Now what shall be the fate of the famed ghost hero now that I have the upper hand?" Inquired Youngblood.

His crew started to name off ideas but suddenly something attacked the crew and rescued Tucker and Sam.

"What in the real world is happening?!" Screeched Youngblood. He was then hit by a bright green ghost ray that knocked him backward and away from Danny. His parrot was also knocked off.

Suddenly everyone was looking at the direction of Danny but the trio was now a foursome with the rescuer bearing a striking resemblance to Danny Phantom himself but this ghost was for sure female, wearing more feminine style clothes, and she was older than the teens as in her early twenties.

Suddenly Youngblood started laughing hard and his crew soon joined as he taunted "Oh my, your sister is trying to be like you that she even got ghost powers like you. Oh man! At least come up with your own symbol! I can't believe how much you've de-matured!

"Youngblood, if you don't leave pronto, I am going to kiss you and play house with your crew.

Youngblood's face turned pale, (even by ghost standards) was stunned for a couple of seconds as if was going to faint or cry.

Youngblood screamed like a banshee and screamed out orders to his skeleton crew to flee the scene. "I can't catch cooties, its way worse than scurvy!" Quickly the ghost pirates retreated giving the mysterious new Phantom the opportunity to escape and free Danny.

The trio ended up questioning her rather than thanking her on why she aided them or why she looked like Danny, but then Danny got a feeling about her. "Wait you're my ghost cousin Danielle, aren't you? That's why you know us and have my symbol. You're not Jazz at all."

"Correct and no the Ecto-Dejecto didn't have anything really with aging me. I'm rather embarrassed with how long it took me figure out the kiss threat." She answered.

"Well it was awesome! You got Youngblood and his gang to retreat without a fight." Tucker giggled with glee. Sam even smiled at the brilliant idea.

Danielle continued, "If cooties where a real condition, then the CDC would have something to say about it. I remember when- Where's Mom, Dad, and Jazz?"

"Back at home." Danny replied also wondering if she had possibly travelled from the future or if something else had happened to her. For one thing her costume/outfit was quite different.

"We need to get them out of here. They are in grave danger and so are countless other souls. We're burning daylight. He's back."

"Who's back?" The three teenagers asked in unison.

"Your alternate future self." She answered in dread.

Everyone's hearts suck like stones but Sam wasn't convinced.

"How do we know that you are the real deal and not trying to trick us?" She questioned the ghostgirl.

"I overshadowed Mr. Lancer and my mom as well as distracting my dad in order to keep you three from getting into trouble for ditching school and pilfering the Spector Speeder. You used it to travel to Colorado in order to save Danny from Vlad who was doing cloning experiments. I know that Danny got his powers from an accident in the lab. I'm from the future and I want to explain later because countless people are in serious danger and that monster is coming." Danielle explained.


	2. Secrets Revealed

Chapter 2

No one said anything on the flight back to Fenton Works and directions were unneeded for Danielle since she already knew the way. Danny figured that she must be part of his family and household because she referred to his parents as her own as well. Somewhere in her past with his future, his family must have adopted her.

Once they reached Fenton Works Danielle took a big breath as if she was bracing herself for something major. She then looked at Danny as if she was going to ask him about something.

"Danny, I know that Jazz knows about you being part ghost but do Mom and Dad? I don't think I have been adopted or introduced yet." She inquired.

Danny had to admit he hadn't told them nor had they figured it out as of this current time and reality. She also knew that meant that the rest of the family didn't know her yet or even had adopted her.

"Dani, I think I should be the one to explain to the family the whole alternate stuff. Just wait in my room until I have explained and call you down. You know where my room is this year right?" Danny suggested.

"I will be able to find it." She answered.

"You have proof right? Good solid proof of the future, right?" Tucker asked before she headed inside (using her ghost powers of course).

"Yes I indeed do." Danielle answered and pulled out an electronic device that contained images of the Fenton family on a vacation with her included as a teenager.

The three teens then hurried inside the home and down the stairs to find Danny's (and technically Danielle's) parents working in the lab on one of their many inventions and devices.

"Ah Danny, just in time!" Called his father. "I call this weapon the Fenton-

"Dad! Not now! We're all in serious danger! We need to pack and leave or something!" Danny protested.

Suddenly it got quite and Jack and Maddie's attention.

"What sort of danger sweetie?" Maddie asked her son.

"An evil, plotting, blood thirsty ghost with connections to –

"Evil ghost? I'll tear that ghost apart molecule by molecule with the Fenton Peeler! It's not going to get to my family!" Jack stated strong in confidence.

"No! Dad! It's far more serious than you can handle!" Danny protested.

"Oh Danny, you know that your father and I can handle any ghost no matter how evil. After all they're mostly evil and bothersome too. Especially that Phantom kid. Jack did you fix those wires for the ecto armor? I want to perfect the neuro receptors." Maddie assured.

"Danny, I don't think they will listen to you even when the subject is ghosts." Sam stated.

"I'm going to have to do what I have to do. I don't think there's enough time to explain." He answered to Sam.

"Mom, Dad." He called for them and got their attention. They turned to give their full attention to him.

"I'm going ghost!" He transformed into his ghost fighting phantom form in front of his parents. They were going to have to find out about this eventually.

The both of them were stunned as if they were about to faint since they were now looking at a ghost who was not only their son but Amity Park's famed ghost hero. And for the past few months they had been hunting him and thinking he was a public menace. They were now at a loss of what to do. Danny being the ghostboy was not one of the things that they could have ever imagined.

Danny took advantage of their stunned state to confirm that he truly was their son not some ghostly imposter and mentioned and explained how the Fenton technology and equipment functioned. He also told about the accident he had in the Fenton Ghost Portal with Sam and Tucker backing him up and making other supporting statements. Then it started to all make sense once they put the pieces together.

"Danny, why didn't you tell us this before? How could you not tell us that you gained ghost powers? Why did you and your friends keep this a secret from us?" Maddie asked while trying to control her temper. She was clearly upset with her son for keeping such a secret. Jack was also at a loss on how to deal such a conflict. He was dedicated to researching on how to fight and even destroy ghosts but now was conflicted since not only was his son a ghost (or at least part) but was a famous one and was Jack's (as well as Maddie's) main target. Sam and Tucker were also unsure of whether or not Jack or Maddie would do with them. Possibly forbid them from hanging out with Danny for who knew how long. Would they expose their son to the public, just tell a few key people, or go along with the secret?

It was a very surreal while that seemed to last so much longer until Sam spoke up.

"Hello? Aren't we all in some grave danger? Fenton Works is going to be the first place that evil ghost is going to look?" She flat out stated and got everyone to snap out of the moment.

"And we need to get Jazz too! Where is she?" Danny cried out as he realized that he almost forgotten her.

"In her room." Jack answered while still semi dumbfounded by the revelation of his own son having ghost abilities. Danny left to go fetch her.

"We need to go somewhere far off quick!" Stated Tucker in a panic while looking at his PDA for possible hiding places.

"Tucker, Sam I know that you two mean well but what makes you think that this is something we can't handle? Why do we need to pack and hide?" Maddie asked unsure if such a drastic move was necessary.

"We promise to explain later but we need to move out of harm's way which is that ghost. He's pure violence and evil and wants you and others dead. He seeks to produce death, destruction, fear, and sorrow. Plus he's from in alternate future which we prevented. He knows you're able to thwart him and that's why he wants you and others eliminated.

Danny came down in the lab with Jazz and that another ghost that his family didn't recognize. After some quick explanations a quick promise of full explanations later, both the Fenton RV and Specter Speeder were packed and given directions to a destination that Danielle knew of that the Dark Phantom would not know about. She just hoped it would suffice until after the crisis was over. The rest of the family were really eager to know who this mysterious ghost enemy was and who was this young woman who look like Danny was. Why was she helping him and how was she connected to him?


	3. The Flight

Chapter 3

Quickly the Fenton family and friends packed both the RV and the Specter Speeder with ghost equipment and technology with Danielle leading the way to the hideout. She had to prove that she was human as well and Danny had to explain that she only had their safety and well-being at heart. It was an awkward ride for everyone due to multiple factors, mainly that Danielle proved that she was from the future and hinted that she was going to be a part of the Fenton family.

Finally they arrived to what looked like some cabin in the woods. On closer inspection, it looked something more like a facility under some construction once they got inside and beyond the living quarters.

Maddie got an ill feeling of the place because it remind her of Vlad. Jazz stated that it reminded her of Vlad as well. Danielle confirmed it. She also explained how this was really one of Vlad's cabin hideouts and how she knew after he was eventually exposed and investigated. Vlad had many more too throughout the country and even a few in Canada as well. Danielle brought them here because the Dark Phantom wouldn't know about this place and Vlad was least likely to use this facility because it wasn't quite complete although quite a bit of it was functioning. She also explained that Vlad had a couple of hideouts closer by and that were fully functioning at this time.

"How exactly did you know that?" Sam questioned.

"Clockwork refreshed my memory once I got stranded in this timeline." Danielle admitted.

"Who's Clockwork?" Maddie and Jack asked.

"The ghost of time." Danny answered. "He got me out of a couple of jams before."

Then Jazz spoke up. "Danny, you and this look alike still need to do some explaining on how we all in danger and the nature of this situation."

Danny signed and thought for a moment in order to figure out where to start. No doubt what he was going to reveal was going to be hard to accept. Danielle knew she was going to explain quite a bit more about herself as well.

"Dani, I think I should be the one to explain your true origins to everyone. Is that alright with you?" Danny asked with sincerity.

"The fact that I'm a clone doesn't bother me anymore, but very few people know about it other than our family and a few close friends of my time. But yeah, I think you better explain and I will confirm it. However you are going to be explaining a whole lot more to them than just about me." She replied.

Danny then took a deep breath and sat down. He then braced himself for any questions about the situation and who was involved. His parents were still rather upset at the fact that he didn't tell them about his ghost powers or ghost fighting activities sooner. Plus they would be upset at Jazz too for not telling them when she had full knowledge of it too.

Meanwhile in the Ghost Zone, the Dark Phantom was practically throwing a fit. Not only did his alternate self thwart him, but somewhere that ghost girl he teamed up with was able to follow him into not only the Ghost Zone and this current time but she managed disabled his portal producing power. She had managed to leap into the real world while freezing him in a block of ice in order to stall him too. Worst part was that was the second time it happened. First was by the original Danny himself. He knew that his previous self (now a man) had some developed powers and a female partner that he seemed to treat like family. He shouldn't be surprised if she had all his powers, after all she seemed to have them and act like them.

He started shooting numerous rays at the multiple of rocks, doors, and the occasional unlucky ghost that passed by. Who was she and how did she gain her powers? Why did she look and even act like his former hybrid self? Was she a hybrid too? He at first thought she was Jazz but she appeared to be too young compared to Danny nor did she act like Jazz. Heck how did Jazz find out? She must have seen him go ghost while he wasn't looking was all he could think.

Now how in the Ghost Zone did she get into this timeline without a medallion? Was his portal producing power only temporarily disabled? If so, for how long? He hoped so and not for long, otherwise he was going to have a hard time dodging her, various ghost hunters/fighters, and being limited to what few portals he knew of, both natural and artificial. He had grown so used to it that he had almost taken it for granted. He was able to stop the original Danny Phantom from following him, but he still had to face Dani Phantom. She wasn't going to give up without a fight.

"Whoever this 'Dani Phantom' is and how or why she allied to my younger self, I've got to find out. I won't be surprised if that Cheesehead knows a thing or two, but in this timeline?" He growled to himself upset by the uncertainty. He had to keep the other medallion out of any enemy's reach otherwise he would cease to exist. He managed to evade the original Danny Phantom into this timeline, but not the female Phantom.

The Vlad of the alternate future that he arrived in wasn't able to be located and what information he got, the secret of him being a manipulative ghost hybrid had gotten to be known to the public. However, no one knew who Danny Phantom was or this female version of him came from. No doubt he was defeated and exposed. Perhaps he could ruin Danny's future after all and secure his existence. He could use this situation to his advantage. Still he had to worry about the other Phantom that was able to follow him and she would no doubt go great lengths to aid the current Danny and stop him. She reminded him of his former hybrid self which he was disgusted with. No doubt he was going to have to be very subtle and even sneakier to accomplish his evil designs and desires. Plus he wasn't going to 'play games or mess around' with his younger self like he did before.


	4. The Truth is Known

Chapter 4

"Wait a second! You're a clone!? Created by Vlad? And that evil ghost after us is part you part Vlad?" Everyone else asked.

"Danny you knew about this all this time? Why didn't you mention it?" His sister asked in great disappointment.

"I didn't think you or anyone else would believe me or was ready to listen. Danielle wasn't exactly around either nor did I think it was the time or place to reveal the truth about her origins." Danny answered.

"But how is cloning at that level even possible at this time? I didn't realize we were that advanced yet." Tucker stated in uncertainty. His tone of voice also hinted of disappointment that his best friend didn't tell him everything. All he was told was that Danielle was Danny's cousin when in reality she was much more than that.

"Several versions of the technology and techniques have been around for quite some time although it was a highly guarded secret. It really started during the Cold War. Mainly when some communist countries were trying to find other ways to grow large armies without enlisting civilians. Success was also quite limited and short lived. Multiple organizations in many countries experimented with human cloning. Eventually whole human cloning projects were abandoned. Even I don't know everything about what Vlad used or how he got hold of such information or equipment.

For a while Danny wondered why Vlad didn't just clone his mom but he figured that his archenemy did attempt to but never succeeded.

"So you're saying that in the future we adopted you and you've arrived here to protect us from some evil menace?" Maddie asked. Danielle nodded.

Jazz then piped in. "When you meant by 'success was limited and short lived' the clones were-

"Usually unhealthy or unbalanced in some way. Several times the clones had a multiple of problems such as underdeveloped organs, lacking in intelligence, learning trouble, weak immune systems, deformed limbs, and short life spans. Vlad managed to get hold of the best equipment and techniques although he still had a many failures. I am the result of much experimenting and even I am an imperfect clone and Vlad made several before me." Danielle answered in detail without trying to expose too much information and messing up the timeline.

Jack was just speechless about receiving the news that his 'old chum' had a real vendetta against him and having advance ghost powers. On top of that, he was trying to snatch Maddie away for himself. Jack was normally very chatty, but now he was quiet.

"Why is this ghost targeting us specifically and why does he take after you Danny?" Maddie asked.

Danny braced himself again and revealed how that ghost once was his future. That ghost was an evil, twisted, alternate version of Danny Phantom but thankfully Danny was able to set things right and prevented this Dark Phantom from succeeding. Then he turned to Danielle and asked her how he managed to escape.

Danielle then proceeded to explain how Clockwork had superiors over him that could see the future but not as well as Clockwork could. They foresaw the Dark Phantom escaping and took percussions to prevent it. They removed the Thermos that contained the Dark Phantom and placed it in a prison for extremely evil and dangerous ghosts. However a sidekick to another evil ghost managed to sneak in and by mistake released the Dark Phantom instead of his own dark master. It didn't take long for the Dark Phantom to find out he was imprisoned for years.

"He doesn't know about my origins...yet. All he knows is that there's another Phantom and he's not happy about it. I have managed to disable his portal producing power and trap him in the Ghost Zone as of this time. But I don't know how long he will remain there. That's why I disabled the portal back at home." Danielle explained.

"You know Danny, for a chick, you're quite hot." Tucker whispered to Danny.

"Zip it, Tuck." Danny hissed.

"Oh relax Danny, you know he's only kidding." Sam stated (although she was rather amused by Tucker's joke). Still, Sam wasn't sure to be amazed or disgusted with cloning. At least Danielle was a good one with good intentions.

"And the reason why we're here is so that evil ghost won't know where we are?" Jazz asked.

"That's correct. He may be part of Vlad, but he's gained a another mind and personality. A darker, twisted, more violent one.

"Wouldn't you also need to get the rest of the equipment in case that ghost raids our lab?" Jack asked.

"Oh thanks for reminding me Dad. Come on Danny. Let's get the rest of that stuff before Tall, Dark, and Hideous grabs or destroys any of it." Danielle answered.

"Did he ever use gadgets of any sort?" Tucker asked the Ghostgirl.

"On occasion yes, when it was necessary." She replied.

"He's already extremely powerful enough without them." Danny added before he and his clone took off for FentonWorks.

Meanwhile back in the Ghost Zone, the Dark Phantom struggled to find another portal into the real world. All he managed to do was tresspass into other ghosts' domain and trash them with or without them resistenting. Until he could find another way into the real world, he would remain stranded in the Ghost Zone. Still he knew that he could still do destruction here like he did in the alternate future time. Maybe he could bully his way into finding a portal into the real world.


	5. The Second Flight

Chapter 5

Once they arrived at Fenton Works, they brought all the weapons, inventions, and most of the equipment to the Op Center. They then started it up (as a jet of course) and flew off to some mountains. Danielle explained that their was a cave nearby and told Danny how to find it. He understood why. The Dark Phantom would have next to nothing of Fenton Works to use and no one to kidnap or kill. Nor would he know were to look. Not to mention Danny turned on the defense mechanism to fight of anything using ecto energy. Dark Danny Phantom would have a nasty surprise and possible wounds from such a fight. Still that could make him even angrier. He also sent more messages to city officials for community safety. His mom and dad sent others just before they left.

Danny and Danielle raced back to the cabin with extra weapons. The rest they hid just outside of town in case the evil Phantom managed to get inside. They also set up a few traps just in case. During that time he was able to ask her how she was able to time travel. She showed him a bracelet-like device on her arm.

"Clockwork lent this to me while we face him during this time. The Dark Danny managed to disrupt the function of yours in the future yours off in a fight. He tried to get me but I was able to stop him. The enemy also doesn't know about these but he knows that I'm using something. After all I don't have any of Clockwork's medallions, but he knows I'm using something. I don't want him near me because he can tear it off or disrupt the function.

"Do you think he will go after Vlad?" Danny ask.

"Most likely. Especially if he can't find his previous friends and family in Amity Park. He will also will leave a trail of destruction like a tornado all the way to Vlad's mansion in Wisconsin or to his cabin in Colorado. Or a hideout somewhere else. Still there is no saying where or when that ghost is going to exit the Ghost Zone. He will pick the most convenient target."

"But Vlad is mayor of Amity Park now. Wait a minute, he won't know that...yet. Vlad would've have received the messages by now." Danny just realized.

"True, it is now Vlad's responsibility now, but we still got to do what we can. I sure this ghost is more than Vlad or others can handle." She answered.

Danny recalled how Vlad once released Vortex to improve his ratings as mayor and how Vortex later proved too much for Vlad to handle. Shortly afterwards Vlad then dumped the responsibility on him. Danny even wondered if his evil alternate self had destroyed or drastically weakened the Guys in White. In the alternate future, there were clearly few that were brave enough to face him.

"I know of another facility nearby that would be underground and abandoned by now. I don't think Vlad will appreciate us using any of his places without his permission. However we can't worry about moving again just yet." Danielle added.

"Do you by any chance have the ghostly wail? Or my ice powers?" Asked Danny.

"Yes, I have both of those powers. I've had the ice powers for a while, but I got the ghostly wail rather recently. If I use it I will revert back to human. Keep in mind that some powers are learned while others take a while to develop." She answered.

Danny thought for a little bit. It started to make sense. His ghostly wail was triggered by extreme distress. From what he could tell duplication was a learned power. Others came with time and skill came with practice.

"Dani, can you show me how to duplicate myself? I just barely learned how to do it, but I haven't mastered it yet." He requested.

"Yes, but it will be a crash course. It's not something you learn overnight. Plus we've got an evil and powerful ghost to stop.

Meanwhile in the Ghost Zone, the Dark Phantom was getting even more frustrated. His portal producing power was still disabled and he couldn't find another portal that lead him to where and when he needed. Not to mention that no other ghost would want or be willing to aid him. He knew he was the new master of the Fright Knight, but first he had to conquer/win approval of that ghost. Even that took a bit of time. He would have to abandon that task for now since one of his enemies escaped him and she was going to defend and aid his alternate self, family, and friends.

However his rampage did attract the attention of the ghost police. He remembered them and how easy they were to defeat even without his ghostly wail. He just couldn't resist to use it on them. The fight ended before it could start.

"Tell that skull faced boss of yours that I'm not subject to his authority. In fact there is now only one rule or law in the Ghost Zone now. It's never bother or fight the Dark Phantom unless you wish to be vanquished or destroyed. No sheriff or officer is above me." He hissed threateningly in unison with his duplicates while holding up several police ghosts and glaring down with his blood red eyes. He knew Walker didn't like being challenged and was going to put up one heck of a fight. Still he was not in the mood for games or distractions. The Dark Phantom then threw the ghost officers in a pile and fired several ghost rays at them.

"Whoever fights or pesters me, does so at his or her own risk!" He roared promoting the defeated officers to flee even faster. He now had to formulate a plan on how to stop both Phantoms but also any other enemies and nuisances of this time period. It was bad enough losing to his weaker less experienced self. He especially didn't want to lose to a female version of that previous self of his. His ego was still wounded after she had gotten the upper hand on him.


	6. More Truth and the Ghost Zone

Chapter 6

Back at the lab, the Fentons along with Tucker and Sam waited anxiously for news in the secret lab while Danielle and Danny returned to the outskirts of Amity Park to formulate a plan on how to take this enemy on and show the younger present Danny on how to use duplication more effectively.

"Danielle, how exactly did we come across or adopt you?" He couldn't help to ask.

"I'd rather not say for now because we could be messing up the time period worse than before. I fear that I might have messed something up by coming here. Time travel is a very risky practice nor is it a game. Nor are we going to seek out my younger, present self because that monster is more than happy to kill or corrupt me." She answered.

Danny knew she was right. Technically he was older and the original Phantom but he knew that she was much more experienced and powerful. So it was best that he follow in her lead. Soon they returned back to the hidden lodging while the rest of them organized the Fenton ghost weapons and gadgets for what was practical and what was best to be skipped. The Phantoms soon joined in.

It wasn't long before Tucker becoming somewhat bored and curious about Danielle began to flirt with her.

"Tucker, I'm quite flattered that you like me, but do you realize how old I am?" She asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Do you want me to guess your actual or legal age since technically you're a clone who skipped infancy and early childhood?"

Then Danielle showed him (and everyone else) the finger that mattered on her left hand. The finger with a glittering ring on it.

"You're engaged?" Tucker asked in a slight dumbfounded tone.

"I'm already married." Danielle corrected. "Come to think of it, I wonder if I should be surprised that no one else seemed noticed or mentioned it." She added.

"Tuck, she's off limits due to age, time period, and she's unavailable." Danny stated.

"And don't ask who I married or stuff like it. I refuse to reveal any information of the future unless I feel it is necessary. All I will say about him is that none of you have met him…yet. Right now that isn't important. No more flirting with me Tucker. I don't even bother keeping count of how many dudes fantasize having me as a girlfriend…or wife."

Soon the subject was changed back on a plan to defeat the menacing ghost that had been let loose. Danielle and the others did wonder how no one notice or pointed out her ring proving that she was taken. After all, she didn't flaunt it, drop hints about it, or make big deal of it. She had other much more important things on her mind like saving family, friends, and countless other souls.

They had to outsmart this ghost rather than take him head one as in ripping him apart molecule by molecule. He was no ordinary specter. He wasn't going to play dumb or games. Millions if not billions were at risk.

While back in the Ghost Zone, the Dark Phantom sought for any entrance leading to the modern human world, preferably one that lead to or close to Amity Park so he would be wasting time or energy traveling. He was unable to locate Vlad's portal during his time, would he be able to find it in this alternate past? He wasn't sure but he had to try. That would mean being in Wisconsin instead of Amity Park. He didn't like the fact that he would be vulnerable without a quick way to escape back into the Ghost Zone. He didn't like losing such an advantage. It didn't take long for Walker and a large number of reinforcements arrived to quell and subdue this troublesome ghost.

"Well, well, well…I've almost forgotten how you can do that illusion." The Dark Phantom commented in a sneer at Walker's attempt to make himself look more menacing and powerful to various troublesome ghosts. "Too bad for you it didn't really work on me." He cackled evilly.

"Are we going to have a problem?" Walker asked coolly.

"I won't but you and that pathetic police force will if you don't stay out of my way! I am more ghost than you or your squad can handle!" The evil Phantom hissed.

Before Walker could give any orders, the Dark Danny launched a cheap shot attack against his police force by producing five duplicates in a well-choreographed attack like he had done before in his alternate time. Using ghost rays and ecto constructs he restrained Walker's force ghostly chains and for the final indignity Walker was place in a cage bound with strong cords (at least by ghost standards). Then Walker got a close up of his attacker with the familiar DP logo sported on the chest.

"Who are you? Walker demanded. "You can't possibly be that Danny Phantom teen that gives me and my force trouble. "I know that symbol anywhere!" Walker shouted.

"In my time, they just call me 'Phantom' and no one has called me 'Danny' in years. I'm way more powerful than that weakling ever was or will be!" He snarled.

Neither Walker or any of his officers been this afraid of a ghost for a long time or faced one. Few and far between could take on a sizeable police force and win so quickly without any real loss. This one was exceptionally vile, aggressive, and powerful like Pariah Dark. He was plenty bad enough without commanding any troops. Even more, he had been warned of this ghost's raw power and aggression.

If there was anything else that the Dark Phantom remembered about Walker, it was that he didn't appreciate his prisoners escaping. The vile enemy couldn't help it but rush off to Walker's jailhouse and bust the prisoners free while terrorizing the guards and a few unlucky prisoners. Even more Walker and his goons were now restrained and currently powerless to stop this monster or his intentions. And what was his connection to Danny Phantom and why did he still bear the same symbol if he had nothing to do with Danny Phantom? Clearly he and his police force not only had an inkling but clear knowledge that this ghost was really bad news and way worse than Danny Phantom. Now he and his crew were immobilized and unable to cease the oncoming rampage.


	7. Chaos

Chapter 7

It didn't take long for the Dark Phantom to bust Walker's prisoners out (as well as scaring plus attacking some of them) and seriously trashed the ghost prison itself. Most of the prisoners fled from him fearing that he was more of a conqueror worse than Walker rather than a liberator. It lifted his dark spirits a bit. He was still sore about being stuck in the Ghost Zone without his portal producing power functioning. He would have to find the Fenton Portal, Vlad's, or if he was lucky; a natural one that led into the current time. Still he did have time to kill and plan. He had to somehow find a way to deal with that female Danny Phantom as well as his weakly former self. Once again he had to face two Danny Phantoms. However, one was a lot less powerful and experienced than the others.

It didn't take long for the commotion to spread catching the attention of other ghosts. Suddenly affected parts of the Ghost Zone were on high alert mainly because this particular ghost bore the famous symbol of Danny Phantom. Yet he looked strikingly different than the ghost that they knew. He had blood red eyes, fangs, pale green skin, and head of flaming hair. His outfit was different too with moderately different designs and a cape. Several felt that Danny Phantom had gone rouge. A few felt it meant Danny Phantom wouldn't foil their evil plans or might even tolerate them. However they were soon proven wrong.

Any skeptics and doubters were soon left in frightful awe and worry of what else he was capable of and who was his next target. Some ghosts suggested and others did just that; started fleeing. Others suggested fighting back. Very few ghosts had the sort raw power or skill to face such a powerful foe. Still a few groups began to formulate a plan on how to trap, team up and subdue such a foe as well as inquire other more powerful ghosts for aid. What really truly frightened most other ghosts was that he bore the symbol of Danny Phantom but had proven himself as a heartless monster.

Meanwhile back in the secret lodging, the Fentons had managed to re-create a couple of portable ghost portals with some help from Dani. Fortunately she had been listening to her parents' (especially Jack's) explaining about the equipment and technology. She of course kept her promise to help Danny practice the duplication power. It would be very useful in combating the evil Danny once he returned. Although she was started to feel light-headed and somewhat dizzy. This was a bad time to start feeling sick but they all figured it was just the stress from the situation.

Eventually Mayor Vlad Masters got around to reading/listening to some very crucial as in upmost importance of messages alerting him to evacuate the city and call in special unit forces for another ghost that was very powerful and destructive. His first reaction was to scoff at the 'silliness' of it. He had to deal with pestering ghosts before and they were rarely big deals or challenges. Afterall it came from the Fentons who were professional ghost hunters and Jack especially took great effort to eliminate any ghosts and other threat they posed.

"Oh Jack, you fool. Surely this must be a gag or a set up. Honestly why are you requesting me you mayor, old college chum, and a successful businessman for help on ghost related troubles. Ghost fighting is outside of my area of expertise and you should know that." Vlad giggled to himself. He also wondered he ought to spy on the Fentons to see what their real intentions were.

He then asked his cat Maddie if he should send a Vlad bug robot to spy on the Fentons. His cat let out meow which he interpreted as a yes answer. It didn't take long to send one there because he had nearby in the area. Once it arrived he was in for a surprise. Having no people inside was one thing, but the lab and other places were picked clean of almost all equipment. All that Vlad could see that was left over was a few spare parts and pieces of material used to make ecto weapons and gadgets. If the Fentons snatched everything functioning and possible, they must have felt a serious threat was on its way. Even when examining the Ghost Portal Vlad could view through his spy bot that it not only shut off but disabled. Did the Fentons just leave town unannounced? It was very suspicious to him. He could very well accuse the Fentons for abandoning town leaving the citizens at the mercy of this threat. Or he could use this situation to make himself the hero and win possible win Maddie back and boost his ratings as well. He had faced and subdued others ghosts before. It rarely was any such real trouble and surely he could face it and win. After all young Daniel had left too and he was much less experienced than Vlad and it was seemed the younger ghost hybrid had chickened out.

Meanwhile back in the Ghost Zone, several specters in a panic sought out the most used artificial portal namely the Fenton Portal in order to escape but to their fright and dismay there was none. This was especially troubling because this was one of the few constant portals between the Ghost Zone and Earth. Others than sought out just about any other portal a few even suggested the portal belonging to Vlad Masters. A few ghosts did seek out that portal and find it. Still the Dark Danny Phantom wasn't going to leave the Ghost Zone yet even if he could leave the Ghost Zone because he didn't like losing any advantage he had at this point and he felt his portal producing power was starting function again.

While plotting about how to use the Fentons' absence in his favor he got a surprising large number of warnings from his mansion that a large number of ghosts were migrating out of the Ghost Zone through it. It puzzled him for a few seconds until he figured out a possible explanation.

"Those ghosts must know that Daniel and his family of ghost hunters have abandoned Amity Park and left it vulnerable. Now why would the Fentons leave? Maybe to come in during the mayhem and save the citizens of Amity Park from another ghost invasion and build up their reputations competent ghost hunters doing a great community service." Vlad thought. He could hardly wait to steal their thunder, expose their plan, make Jack look like a big kook and fool publicly, and make himself the big hero as well. Still Vlad knew in order to conquer, he had to know what he was up against. He didn't want to evacuate the city because of the Box Ghost. Still, he had to wonder if the Fentons contacted others and how they would react to such a warning. He figured to contact Valerie Gray in her new and improved suit and equipment and have her deal with it first. Vlad wasn't going to worry too much at least not yet. After all, there were few ghosts that Vlad was unable to defeat.


	8. The Plan and More

Chapter 8

It didn't take long for Vlad's mayor mansion to become flooded with frightened ghosts fleeing an enemy. The sudden influx took Vlad by surprise because he was unable to plan on what to do about it other than summon Valerie Gray of course. She hated ghosts with a passion and found destroying, capturing, or chasing them off pleasurable and meaningful. Valerie of course received a warning message from the Fentons to beware of incoming ghosts and to not bother any ghost aiding the public, namely Danny Phantom.

It didn't take long for Valerie to realize that the message was no prank or farce once the city had a massive ghost body flying around the city with quite a few seeking safety as it seemed. Still she was uncertain to aid Mayor Masters after she help Danny Phantom save his younger cousin from a serious fate. Valerie then realized through Danny Phantom and Dani Phantom that human ghost hybrids could exist and she had supported a plan of action to harm another human being even after she herself the ghost hunter was saved by Dani Phantom from a collapsing building. That same night she also found out that the mayor was in fact an evil ghost (or at least part ghost) that was tricking her into doing some of his bidding. Valerie was very hesitant to aid her boss from another disaster. Was this just a publicity stunt to boost his ratings or something more sinister? Or was it truly an emergency that the mayor had nothing to do with? Still she had to do something to not only save scared citizens but not to arouse suspicion. She knew that her father wouldn't like or approve of her hunting down these ghosts even if they were malicious and she having cutting edge ghost hunting and tracking technology that she knew how to use competently. Still she didn't want to leave the citizens of Amity Park or other neighboring communities to be left at the mercy of any unfriendly or dangerous ghosts. Still it was no doubt a daunting task to do even with her weapons and gear.

Meanwhile near the outskirts of town and hidden from view and in a rather inaccessible area for humans (on foot that is) Danielle kept her promise of continuing tutoring Danny in the technique of duplication. She of course had in her time mastered it but Danny had just barely learned to use it although not as effectively or efficiently.

"Dani, did I teach you how to use this power or did Vlad show you?" Danny asked in curiosity.

"Actually a gryphon ghost showed us how. Although Vlad did give me a few pointers early on." Danielle answered.

"What about the younger/present you? Should we have her to help us against this evil version of me?" Danny inquired.

"No way!" Danielle responded in a strong way. "We would have to be in the most desperate situation in order to consider that. If he gets a hold on the younger me of this time, he will destroy or corrupt me by default through the present Danielle. Then you will for sure be left on your own, possibly have more than one evil version of you to deal with, and that's not mentioning how that will affect the timeline. No doubt Clockwork could explain it better to you than me."

Understanding her logic, he dismissed the idea. Soon they heard cries from frightened citizens along with the cackles, hollers, and even a bang from a few harassing ghosts. It was obvious that the city was being invaded and likely attacked. There was almost no doubt that the Dark Danny Phantom had attacked.

Both ghost hybrids gathered up their courage, gear, and reminded each other that Danielle will be referred to as just a relative of the original Danny Phantom. They knew that the more suggestions and theories out there about this older female Phantom, the less the citizens will know and less altering of the timeline.

Meanwhile Valerie flew by FentonWorks to see if the Fentons were around or returning but found that their home/facility was apparently unoccupied and locked up. She didn't feel right about breaking into their private property but there was a massive influx of ghosts with some menacing. Despite her weapons, gear, and skill, she didn't think that she could take down this many ghosts at once. Did the Fentons leave town and dumped the responsibility on her or did something sinister happened to them? From what she knew that Jack and Maddie Fenton wouldn't leave the whole city unprotected even if they were dealing with a powerful ghost enemy. This was one of the worst things that could happen because she needed help, lots of it, and now. It didn't take long for Valerie to notice a familiar black streak firing ghost rays at a bothersome that was harassing some kids.

"Phantom! What's going on?! Do you know what happened to the— She stopped before she could finish because she was looking at either a gender bent Danny Phantom who just went through a growth spurt, his human ghost cousin who just had an even quicker growth spurt or she was another Phantom entirely. Did this ghost have a human form too? Valerie couldn't help but notice that not only did she also bore the famous Danny Phantom symbol, but she looked a lot like the Danny Phantom that the majority of the city had grown to admire and be proud of. She looked like a female version of him, possible be family of his.

"There's no time to explain now Valerie, but we need your help." The unknown Phantom replied in a worried but controlled tone. "Because something worse will come."

"Wait! How do you know my name?!" She shouted at the ghost.

Before the female Phantom replied, she fired a ghost ray at a small goblin like ghost that attempted to attack Valerie from below. Despite the helpful move Valerie got defensive by aiming a ghost weapon at Danielle.

"Relax Valerie! Don't shoot! She's on our side!" Danny called out, trying to quell the situation before it could get ugly. He of course saw the specter trying to attack Valerie while she was dumbfounded. He knew that several of these ghosts were opportunists when it came to causing mayhem. Still he knew that Valerie was stubborn, distrustful of all (even friendly and helpful ghosts) and quick to jump into a fight without consenting who was perpetrator or victim.

Valerie's mind raced with all the information that stressed and confused by what she was seeing but didn't understand. There was the Danny Phantom she and everyone else recognized but now there was an older female Phantom that had teamed up with him. Who was she? Just recently, she heard about, came across, and captured a younger female Dani Phantom who Danny called his cousin.

Seeing that there were frightened people around Valerie figured that fighting either of these Phantoms wasn't in anyone's best interest or would solve anything. Still, where did that adult female Phantom come from? Was she also another relative?

"What do you mean that worse will come?" Valerie asked in a demanding tone. We'll explain later, but we need to get this situation under control before time runs out.

Soon there were cheers and awes of excitement when a number of the townsfolk saw Danny Phantom but then there were a few gasps of surprise and even wonder once they realized that they either saw double or that this ghost was apparently female. She even bore the same symbol.

There were comments from the crowd like 'Danny Phantom what happened to you?' or 'Dude that's a girl ghost!' To avoid questioning Danny quickly announced that she was a family member and requested/recommended that everyone leave the city as quickly as possible for safety reasons.

Meanwhile Vlad watched the action video feedback from one of his hidden cameras to determine when and where to intervene.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" He asked his cat Maddie. "Looks like young Daniel and Valerie are teaming up again but is that Danielle? I knew Danny gave her something to undo her melting. If that is her, that's quite a side effect." He thought.

Meanwhile in the Ghost Zone, the Dark Phantom was getting more brazen and confident in his attacks and was feeling his portal producing power starting to really recover. In fact it was almost functional now. He couldn't wait to use it again and started to wonder on who to visit once it fully functioned again.

"I can always visit that old cheesehead in Wisconsin. I can't wait to see the look on his face when he meets me for the first time in this timeline." He figured. He was certain that Danielle had taken advantage of his absence and moved the Fentons to a safe unknown location. He guessed if she was allied/connected with the original Danny Phantom she would also be at odds with Vlad.


	9. Evil's Arrival

Chapter 9

Finally, he had successfully created a portal to enter the real world. He couldn't tell how far back he travelled into the past or how long he was in the Ghost Zone but he figured it was long enough. He wondered what to destroy next but then he remembered his stealthier plan. He figured to head to Wisconsin and give Vlad a big surprise but also see if Vlad knew anything about the female Phantom and as an evil ghost with some shapeshifting abilities he transformed into the younger Danny Phantom before he turned evil. He could hardly believe that he was once this short and scrawny and lost to his past half ghost self. After that he followed flew off to find a highway or settlement in order to know where he was and what was the year. It didn't take long for him to find out that he was near a highway and the border that led to Wisconsin. It was almost certainly going his way for a change and he figured to check on the cheesehead.

It didn't take long for the disguised Dark Danny to arrive at the former residence however once he got there, he noticed that the more recent place that Vlad lived in was just a hill of ruble. Clearly something happened during this time period after the younger/present Danny was able to defeat him. He growled hissed in frustration but it was over yet, it was just getting interesting. He then considered his options and remembered the lodge in Colorado and a few other hidden/secret locations. He also figured that he could try Amity Park but that it was likely a ghost town by now (no pun intended). He really wanted to know who the female Phantom was and where (and even when) she came from. So he decided to seek out Vlad and if Vlad didn't know anything about her, he would continue on his rampage.

Meanwhile in back in Amity Park, Vlad was ready to confront Danny on why his family abandoned Amity Park without giving a warning. Surely they must have known that Amity Park was going to face a ghost invasion otherwise they wouldn't have taken all of their equipment at once and left too. He was able to fight off a few pestering ghosts without much effort. However he needed to warn the city about the incoming ghosts and get backup. Valerie had come with him needing to summon her. Then he was dealt with a double whammy when he saw that the news was abuzz about a female Danny Phantom who even sported the same symbol as the clone he created. It couldn't be her, could it? Was all he could think because she had a different outfit and was older than the clone he created?

Then Vlad was given quite the surprise when the live footage also showed the both of them seem to be using the duplication power because there was at least a pair of each. How they learned that was unknown to him but he was certain that older female Phantom had something to do with it. She might even be mentoring Danny and putting him on the fast track to becoming a powerful and competent rival.

Meanwhile Dark Danny arrived at his old residence that his human family lived in for years before they died. To his annoyance the home had been stripped of the vast majority of the technology from what he could see from the outside. He wanted so badly to burst in and trash the place but he couldn't because a ghost shield was blocking him. Dark Phantom could've used his ghostly wail but he chose against it because he might want to return to this place intact to investigate if needed. He also couldn't believe that Vlad was now the mayor of Amity Park and thus had moved there. He couldn't believe how long he was in that prison.

Dark Danny resisted the temptation to fire at fleeing and frighten citizens because he wanted to pull some fast ones on the Dani Phantom of the future and the current Danny Phantom. It didn't take long for him to find the mayor's new residence and face him. Because Dark Danny had some shapeshifting powers he was able to come in under the guise of his younger past hybrid self (although he was all ghost).

"Well, well, well young Daniel. You sure have a lot of nerve coming in here rather than protect the town that elected me. Is this the real you or did you send a duplicate to do your bidding?" Vlad hissed.

"This is the real me believe it or not, and who is that female imposter?" the disguised Danny asked his old foe.

"I was about to ask you the same question young man. At first I thought she was Danielle but she's too old and has a different outfit." Vlad explained.

"Who is that Danielle? What makes you think that?" the evil ghost inquired.

"Seriously Daniel, have you become as idiotic and forgetful as your father? Or did you hit your head just before you arrived here? You and Valerie interrupted my plans to study her and you used some sort of device to revive and restore her original form while stabilizing and strengthening her. I almost seriously regret using you as a subject. Seriously don't you remember when the both of you destroyed my prized project…The primary clone? He was almost done too. All he needed was the proper mid morph sample and he would have been the perfect human-ghost hybrid. But you and that reject female hybrid destroyed him during your escape. She even took on the title of Dani Phantom, with an 'i'." Vlad explained in quick but great detail.

The disguised Dark Phantom's jaw dropped, his eyes, just stared, and face went blank. Was this the information he was seeking? Was Vlad serious of it all or was he just joking.

"Well Little Badger, you sure do a great display of the deer in headlights look. I guess the bad apple doesn't fall from a lousy tree, the one that is long overdue for some pruning or being culled." Vlad chuckled wickedly while stroking his cat Maddie who seemed to sense something different about this ghost.

He was still frozen from all the information Vlad revealed. If he was of a subdued earth tone, he could be mistaken for a statue.

"Well aren't you going to do something about those imposters Danny? Do you not recognize them?" Vlad snickered some more. He used to be afraid and worried that Danny would one day overtake him because of all the spying Vlad did on the Fentons revealed that Danny was learning at an accelerated rate and didn't have the health problems Vlad dealt with while in college after the accident. Plus Danny developed a couple of major powers that Vlad didn't have. It appeared that Danny seemed to have regressed in some way which was a welcome invitation for Vlad to challenge and exploit.

"By the way, WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE?!" Vlad demanded.

"Just catching up on information I missed out on. Thanks you Cheesehead. You're an even bigger fruitloop than I thought." The fake Danny replied in a smirk and a sarcastic tone to go with it.

Vlad returned the demeaning comment by firing an ecto-blast. It was one thing to be bold enough to enter Vlad's property while the city was being overrun with ghosts and without permission or being captured, but Danny was clearly brazen enough to call him a fruitloop. To Vlad's surprise, Danny caught the blast, added his own signature energy to it, then redirected and fired it back at Vlad and his cat Maddie with even greater force. The blast hit Vlad in the face, arms, shoulders, and mid to upper chest knocking him over and sending his cat yowling and screeching in pain and fright. This counter attack only enraged Vlad even more.

"Well Daniel if you just wanted a fight you could have just asked for one!" Vlad bellowed at him coldly and in clear pain. He then transformed into his vampire-like ghost-self Vlad Plasmius. He made duplicates of himself and tried to throw an ecto net at what he thought was the younger ghost hybrid but used another counter construct to not only knock it away but to trap all the Vlads instead and force them into becoming one being again. Vlad struggled and had managed to get free but not without being tackled and given a ghostly zap. Then Vlad was wrapped in ghostly constructs that looked like glowing ropes or cords made of ectoplasm. This ghost couldn't be Danny because Danny was still an amateur even though he had some serious powers that he could use competently, but he couldn't do that or overwhelm a far more experienced ghost hybrid that easily, quickly, or without any special device or weapon.

"Who are you really?" Vlad asked the ghost in a demanding tone although he was now scared for his own safety (including his human life) and regretted for not taking the warnings seriously. It dawned on him, most likely what he thought was Danny was most likely the imposter and the dangerous ghost that the Fentons had warned about. If he could defeat Vlad himself that easily, then he could take out the real Danny without any real effort and possibly the other Phantom that looked like she was anywhere from her late teens to her early twenties.

"You'll find out eventually but not now. I will be back for you later." The enemy replied and gave an evil laugh and grin that outdid what even Vlad could do. Vlad watched in awe and shock once his enemy created a swirling vortex that turned out to be a portal to the Ghost Zone. At first he thought it was going to be some new and devastating attack, but it wasn't. It was theorized by a few that some ghosts might be capable of producing their own portals. Then the imposter Danny tossed the tied up Vlad into the Ghost Zone to float there and be immobilized for a future time.

After that he sought for and found something he meant to do during his timeline; find Vlad's portal and destroy it which he did once he found it. However, now he had to deal destroying the Fentons' ghost portal. He also suspected that there might be more. Still, Dark Danny worried that his old home might be booby-trapped. Now he had to deal with two Danny Phantoms. Even better he could take on the role and guise of Vlad now the mayor and work this to his advantage.


	10. A New Evil Plan

Chapter 10

Dark Danny then took on the guise as the present Vlad, the more powerful, experienced, and most importantly the evil half (at least to this ghost). This just might work better than destroying cities and nations. He could turn the tables on the other Phantoms and he could hardly help to contain his laughter. The female Danny Phantom was most likely a clone from his original weakling self somehow created by Vlad.

"The Cheesehead was even crazier than I imagined!" He thought while laughing evilly. He cackled on for several minutes until an alarm rang out forcing him to keep his cool but he had a hard time not smirking. He could also hardly believe that he gained his most valued traits from that half. Before he knew it a crowd of reporters and concerned community members stormed into his office demanding action and asking all sorts of questions. Even more the Guys in White were also in the crowd assuring the frightened citizens and media personnel that everything will be under control and peace will be restored. The Dark Phantom couldn't help but to turn the public against the other Phantoms and he had the perfect opportunity.

Meanwhile in the Ghost Zone, Vlad struggled to make sense of the situation and how Danny could have defeated him that easily. Even though Vlad struggled to escape the ghostly cords, he couldn't help but notice that the whole Ghost Zone was in a commotion/hysteria from what he could imagine was an attack by a very powerful and evil ghost that bore Danny Phantom's symbol. He figured that those ghosts must be fleeing through his portal until he had it shut down and headed to his office. He wondered and worried if anyone would be able to pinpoint the location of entrance from his mansion that he was living in at the time. Not only that, how was he supposed to explain to the public of why he went absent during this crisis. It was like the Ghost King Pariah Dark's invasion again. Did the Fentons suffer from a similar fate?

Vlad was able to convince some other ghosts into setting him free and overheard the frightened specters voicing their concerns of not being able to escape now that the back-up portal (Vlad's was now shut off). The offending ghost was able to create his own portal and escape into the real world, leaving much destruction and injury. Even the ghost police force was outmatched even though many of the ghosts weren't fond of Walker or his cronies. (And Walker himself was a powerful ghost with a powerful force which gave other ghosts reason to fear this ghost all the more.) Vlad couldn't help but think that what he thought was Danny was acting somewhat off as if he didn't know some key past events. Could that Danny he spoke with and fought earlier be an imposter? Could this Danny somehow be connected to the other ghost bearing the same symbol that went on a rampage earlier? The rampaging ghost was described quite differently than the Danny Phantom that the dwellers of the Ghost Zone were familiar with. He wasn't sure but he had to figure it out.

It was hard for the citizens and authorities of Amity Park to take 'Mayor Masters' orders and statements seriously because most of the citizens had grown to admire and support Danny Phantom. The city had influxes of ghosts like this but he was able to set matters right. They knew that Mayor Masters was a critic of Danny Phantom but this seemed way off. Could the Mayor somehow be behind/part of this or was he too prideful to admit ineptness? Or was the Mayor overcome by stress that all he could think to do was to lash out at the town's most beloved hero? Still there weren't very many other people to defend the public against ghost attacks. Even the Guys in White had their minds racing with any form of protocol that would allow them to legally override Mayor Masters' authority in case he was clearly displaying lack of proper leadership and placing innocent citizens at risk. From the way that the mayor looked at them, it seemed that Mayor Masters was scheming about how to deal with them. Still the Guys in White couldn't help but notice that something was off with the mayor as did some of the reporters and community members. The disguised Phantom couldn't help but remember how easy they were to defeat during his time although the remnant of force was able to put up a worthy resistance. They didn't like Danny Phantom either, but something wasn't quite right with the mayor.

It took a while but both Phantoms were able to convince Valerie that they were defenders not attackers and that it would be in the public's best interest for her to team up with them. Danielle must've gotten to know Valerie very well in the future and had lots of practice in negotiation in order to win Valerie's allegiance like that. It probably did help the fact that Valerie had just recently discovered Vlad's secret and was disgusted at the thought of serving him. Now to convince the Guys in White into aid them, that would be an awesome feat.

Suddenly Valerie discovered that Vlad was summoning her.

"What should I do or say?" Valerie asked in a semi panic tone. She didn't like the idea of serving him anymore after he had tricked and manipulated her into performing an evil deed of killing an innocent human despite the fact that he was going to pay her very well.

"Just act like you know nothing. That way you won't seem suspicious and you can weasel some information out of him." Danny suggested. Danielle gave an impressed smile since he was learning something. Without a second thought Valerie took off toward the meeting point.

"Should we try to negotiate with the Guys in White?" Danny asked when Valerie was out of earshot.

"I don't think that's a good idea right now. Maybe if they make some sort of big blunder and their humble enough to request our help then yes. However during this time too many of the force's agents are too narrow minded and stubborn to ask for help. The agency will become more flexible and less antagonistic in the future but I won't be surprised if we end up looking out for them." She stated.

Suddenly a white aircraft zoomed in on them. They were both able to dodge it in time. It was one of the Guys in White flying vehicle. It was clearly in attack mode. Danny fired a freeze ray at the craft because he suspected that it might be highly resistant to ghost rays. Danielle fired something else; it looked like a cross between a ghost ray and an electrical charge. It seemed to stun the aircraft and even cause the engine to stall. They had to make an emergency landing. A crowd nearby cheered for the Phantoms and jeered the government agents.

"Seriously with all the pestering ghosts around you'd think that these agents would have the right of mind to fight those off and leave the helpful ones alone. Gosh, they're keeping the jokes and stories about government inefficiency alive." Danielle stated.

The crowd nearby laughed but then they began asking questions but Danielle didn't stick around to answer. Instead they flushed out and captured a number of annoying ghosts nearby and headed off to the secret base leaving the Guys in White to take care of the rest of the ghosts that were being pests.

The disguised Dark Phantom had half a mind to send a duplicate after them but figured that they would be able to avoid it. Still he could control the Guys in White since extremely few were aware of Vlad Masters being a ghost hybrid. He could even command them into doing his dirty work in a sneaky way.

"Never mind that pesky Phantom or that female copycat." The fake Vlad stated to the Guys in White.

"I am however concerned and confused about the Fentons absence. You might want to investigate FentonWorks. Something either abducted them and striped FentonWorks of all equipment or scared them away causing the Fentons to take everything needed to fight off ghostly enemies. This isn't like them. They were usually the first on the scene when something like this occurs. Even the Red Huntress doesn't seem to know."

The Guys in White agreed and they contacted their colleagues who specialized in investigations of possible missing people. Carefully the agents tried not to bust down the entire front entrance in order to not compromise possible evidence. They disabled any traps or weapons that might be hazardous to anyone. Everything was disabled as a precaution. Operatives K and O acted as guards while their colleagues and even the (fake) mayor later on watched and called out to the family members. The whole facility/house was searched but none of the Fentons were found. Even the vast majority of the technology and weapons were gone as well. The disguised mayor was even more upset to lose again to that female Phantom but he wasn't surprised because she would have taken advantage of his absence to move the whole Fenton family as well as their technology and weapons to a safe location.

Still, the evil ghost couldn't help but peeking into what was still around while none of the investigators or guards were around. The sensors kept going off because of so many ghosts nearby that they had shut them off. That allowed Dark Danny disguised as Mayor Masters to mingle with the Guys in White without them realizing what he really was. When none of the agents were around he took a peek inside the fridge that once was a secret passage to the Op Center. He slammed the door shut as he gagged from the overpowering and nauseating stench it produced. One unintended sniff was too much. It was long overdue that Jack dispose of that rotten ham because it ought to be considered a biohazard by now. Even members of the Guys in White were noticing the offensive odor.

It would take a while for the whole scene to be processed and that didn't guarantee any answers anytime soon of what happened to the Fenton family. Soon the evil ghost began to plot and scheme of what to do next. He was tickled at the thought of having the Guys in White unwittingly aid him and being a (fake) mayor.


	11. An Attack

Chapter 11

It didn't take too long for both Phantoms to arrive back at the secret facility and unite with their friends and family. Tucker had managed to set up and gain internet access as usual. He had managed to access news from Amity Park and other nearby communities. They could count on him for that because he was such a technology lover (or even an addict). Jack and Maddie worked on their technology and weapons while Jazz and Sam worked on organizing and testing it out. Sam and Tucker had contacted their parents to let them know that they were just fine but in hiding right now and would meet up with them later after this crisis was resolved.

It took a while for stuff to be settled down because of all the questions about what they had to deal with. Danielle was certain that Dark Danny Phantom wasn't going to be stuck in the Ghost Zone forever. Even if his portal producing power was still disabled, he would find another way to enter the real world.

"Oh I vaguely remember him." Danielle stated with a slight smile while watching Lance Thunder delivering live news. "He transferred not too long after I moved in with you. Sure it was a major pay cut and in line with lots of natural disasters, but he seemed happy to not have to deal with ghosts very much."

"Does he still fidget about his hair?" Tucker asked.

"Last I checked no, because he started balding prematurely. It was probably due to all the stress from fear of the ghosts and ghost related troubles that he was often ending up reporting." Danielle answered with a laugh.

"I'm kind of surprised that he didn't get fired or something while complaining numerous times on live news." Sam stated.

"He did keep his cool a lot better than most reporters but he was unfortunate to be an unlucky victim due to bad timing, at least at the part of other news personnel. I remember seeing and hearing him trying to get something out of his system until someone turns the cameras with the eyes and ears of the audience before he was ready." Danielle answered.

"Who knew that reporting the news could be so stressful? I knew it was competitive to get into." Jazz said with a giggle.

"I bet it does get old and annoying after a while when an unwanted task keeps getting dumped you. Especially if you're the rookie of the news team." Danny added.

"You're preaching to the choir on this one man. Keep in mind that they had a hard time finding replacements." Tucker chimed in.

Meanwhile Vlad struggled and finally got free from the ghostly energy bands that tied him up. However he was still trapped in the Ghost Zone as were hordes of other ghosts. Several of them then sought out any natural portal. Since culprit was able to produce a portal he left giving the other residences a break although none of them were sure how long it was going to last. Several stated that they should retaliate against the offending ghost. Still Vlad couldn't help but ask what the ghost really looked like because there was no way Danny could've beaten him that easily or quickly. Could Danny somehow gained a new power or skill so suddenly? It was possible but he didn't seem to recall who Danielle was or that he foiled him at melting her down for study. To Vlad this was a red flag.

Vlad then took the time to ask some other ghosts what the attacker looked like. He was shocked to hear from numerous ghosts that the attacker bore the same symbol of Danny Phantom that so many had grown to recognize and a few to even look up to. However this ghost was describe grotesque, burly, a literal hothead, having a different outfit, with pale green skin, red eyes, and evil personified. This didn't sound like the Danny he or that anyone else knew. Could this ghost be a shape shifter and impersonated Danny? It was plausible but Vlad only had his suspicions. Even if Vlad could escape the Ghost Zone, how was he to face this monster again and how was he to explain his absence to others?

Meanwhile back at Amity Park, Dark Danny explored and examined the Fentons' residence. He could hardly find any useable weapon or equipment that would be practical. It was cleaned out. However he was positive that the original Vlad still had his stash. He had no problem with playing/fighting dirty especially since ghost weapons had been used against him. He also wanted to do his own searching without the Guys in White or other human authority figures around just in case they missed something. He couldn't wait to visit Nasty Burger for nostalgia's sake which he did. Technically this was where it all happened; the catalyst for his existence. He giggled wickedly while examining the Nasty Sauce.

"With the explosive properties of this sauce I'm surprised it is freely given to the general public for casual dining. Why the government has banned or restricted this stuff is beyond me. Heck I'm surprised gangsters and terrorists don't try to import or find out how to manufacture this stuff." The wicked specter thought as he chuckled to himself. He knew if he was going to come into existence in this timeline, he was going to have to do something different. His old family and friends weren't likely to run to Nasty Burger for cover or anything. However he loved the fact that he could impersonate Vlad Masters the Mayor of Amity Park and that the head of The Guys in White had given him contact information and access to other highly classified information which he was already scheming on how to use in his advantage. He could even disable their ghost tracking and scanning devices. Heck, he could even get them to carry out parts of his plans if he needed it. He couldn't wait to call on the Guys in White to take out both Danny Phantoms. But how was he to find his former family and friends? He had no idea but he still a few tricks up his sleeve. He couldn't wait to summon Valerie and preform a stunt in front of numerous citizens in the morning for maximum exposure and effect.

Later on Danny and Danielle headed back to Amity Park under the cover of dusk and with extra gear. They were certain that the enemy would strike Amity Park or another nearby community. They figured that they had to stick together for both of each other's benefit because they would stand a much better chance together than against that enemy than alone. She could also tutor her predecessor in using more advanced techniques that she was using.

"You realize the gamble we're taking, right?" Danielle asked.

"Yes, he could appear anywhere, but you had a gut feeling that he'd come here. Mainly because he's connected to Vlad and I still doubt that Vlad will take our warning seriously." He answered. Danny also strongly believed that her feelings had basis.

"Dani, I don't think we should enter the city. Vlad probably has surveillance all over and out of plain sight. I won't be surprised if others are added too." Danny added with a worried tone.

"I was thinking the same thing. We need a place to sleep in shifts. And preferably nearby like Elmerton." She replied.

It didn't take long for them to find a building to suffice. Danny decided to let his clone rest first because she had gone through and risked so much in order get here safely and save countless lives. A few hours later he got his turn.

A while after he fell asleep he was violently shaken awake. He managed to stop himself from attacking his clone because it was good reason. The building they were in was also being shaken by some outside force.

"DANNY! WAKE UP! HE'S ACROSS THE STREET!" She shouted while carrying him out of the building and into the night. He managed to focus his groggy mind and fly on his own. They witnessed a burning building with explosive blasts. There weren't any screams or cries so they figured and hoped that no one was inside. They watched and listened to him cackle evilly. The enemy Phantom didn't seem to notice them. They could hardly believe it. Were they hallucinating or having a vision?

"Dani, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" The original asked the clone.

"Yes, it might be our best chance." She replied in confidence.


	12. Fighting Back

Chapter 12

Dark Danny continued on his rampage until his ghost sense went off and he instinctively fired a powerful ghost ray from his fist toward what happened to be a ticked off Box Ghost who was trying to attack him with a bunch of wooden crates, boxes, bubble wrap, and duct tape. He didn't hesitate to grab the stunned ghost.

"Well, well, well, I almost forgot how short and pudgy you were." He hissed. "Say, is this your hideout? Are there other old enemies of mine around? Are you going to at least say 'Beware' to me?" He asked again in a snarky tone then his ghost sense went off again. He turned his head to find a light bluish ghost ray which he quickly created a ghost shield in order to block it. Turned out that ghost ray was actually an ice beam and he had managed to block it in time to avoid it hitting him directly. He knew what it was like frozen in ghostly ice. Now that the modern Phantoms had this power he was going to be extra careful, but at least he knew of ways to counter it. Quickly he dropped the Box Ghost who took the opportunity to flee. He made three duplicates and split up in different directions to take on any ghost or ghost hybrid that shot at him.

"Well, well, well, Danielle, as I recall, we played 'Follow the Leader' into the past. Why not play 'Hide and Seek' in the present. Or better yet, 'Search and Destroy.'" One of the duplicates stated in a sinister tone as he headed off to search for her.

Danny remained invisible while he waited for duplicate or the original himself to float by. He was also wearing a scanning device used for picking up ecto signatures of invisible specters. Sure enough there was an invisible one next to the visible decoy waiting for a cheap shot. Quickly he took out the invisible one but the other flew straight toward his direction with glowing fists. Danny barely avoided him.

Danielle was able to capture one of the duplicates in the thermos but she had too close of a call when one of the duplicates almost pounced on her because he hid in a place where her scanning eyewear wasn't able to detect him. She was able to deflect him in time but lost her grasp on the thermos. Before he could grab it, she created a duplicate to freeze him in a block of ghostly ice and trap him for a few precious seconds and that allowed Danielle to obtain the thermos and move a safe distance away until he broke free with his flaming ghostly hair and pulsing hot ghost rays.

"Is that all you've got, girly?" He hissed in rage.

She returned his comment with a shot of ecto energy into his mouth.

"I hope you're hungry because you will be eating your own words Dark Danny!" She snapped back.

He resisted the urge to lunge at her. He couldn't risk getting sucked into the thermos that she had in her possession.

"You know I really hate being called 'Danny'. I haven't been called that in years and for good reason. When I'm from, people and ghosts alike just call me 'Phantom'." He growled as he fired more ecto shots at her. She didn't appear to be wearing one of Clockwork's time medallions, but he knew that she must be using something.

Meanwhile Danny was starting to falter when the enemy was not only able to block his attacks, but counter them as well by aiming his Danny's ghost rays back at him. How were Danielle and his future self cope with such an opponent. In his first big brawl with this future ghost, this evil Phantom was just toying with him. This time however, he wasn't taking that chance again and was determined to not only defeat this younger less experienced version of himself but to hold him captive and restrain him. He was having to deal with that older female Phantom that had proven to be quite an effective fighter.

Eventually he was able to overpower his younger alternate self without the other good Phantom to save or aid him, but before he could do serious damage a hot pink ecto blast hit him. Stunned for a second, he looked up at the attacker to discover that the shooter was apparently a younger female, about the current Danny's age and was wearing a high tech anti ghost battle suit.

"You're not trashing this town or any community on my watch ghost! She shouted as she fired another anti ghost ray at the Dark Phantom. Quickly he grabbed his younger alternate self to use as a shield but fortunately Danny had the sense and conciseness to turn intangible allowing the ecto blast to hit his evil self instead. Dark Danny roared in pain and in anger from being tricked. Danny took the opportunity to escape from his captor. However he couldn't help but think that he recognized her. The outfit maybe different but he was certain that whoever was wearing it was Valerie Gray, the teenage girl turned ghost fighter/hunter who harbored a great deal of resentment for ghosts. She definitely acted and sounded very familiar and possible used similar weapons and technology.

Without warning he lunged at her but he was careful to avoid any shots fired at him because he didn't know of what kind of technology or weapons she used, but he still had to neutralize her in some way. During his time Valerie was always a thorn at his side. He was so enraged that he didn't really notice his ghost sense going off. Once again his younger and less experienced self had bested him by pouncing on him from above while he was aiming for the Red Huntress. He was knocked quite a distance back while Valerie took aim and fired a ghost net at him but he managed to avoid it.

"Valerie, this ghost is bad news – Danny tried to warn.

"Aren't all ghosts bad news?" She questioned him with great suspicion.

Danny was very turned off by her stubbornness. After all he was just trying to help and this came just after they had rescued the younger/present Danielle. Was she trying to test him?

"I trying to stop this monster and save all the citizens just like you." He answered. He tried to explain further but the enemy attacked again. While inside a ghost shield he realized in horror that he and Danielle were separated for quite some time. Quickly he tried to contact her with the modified Fenton Phones.

"Dani, can you hear me? Where are you? Did you stop those duplicates?" He asked in a worried tone. He couldn't wait to listened to a response because the enemy was attacking again.

Meanwhile Danielle was fighting what she believed was the main/original ghost rather than another duplicate. Even though she had produced three other duplicates, he was still quite a challenge and he had successfully separated her from the other Danny was able to counter or avoid all of her attacks. Still there was more in store.

"I knew that you couldn't really be a new ghost fighting hero. You had to come from somewhere. You were so much like Danny, I thought that you two had to be siblings but Mom and Dad didn't have any more kids after me. It would be unlikely that a cousin or an adopted sister could be that much like my original self. You appear to be too old to be his daughter; that is if he has any kids. And Vlad told me plenty." The Dark Phantom proudly announced.

"You can't take what Vlad says seriously. You should know that because he's part of you. He's a lying, cheating, and manipulative fake in so many ways. I'm not surprised that you took on his worst traits and aggrandized them into making yourself a bigger villain than he ever was." She shot back.

"Deny it all you want, it won't change your origins. You nothing more than a failed cloning attempt. A female Danny Phantom. I can't believe that Cheesehead got that desperate and sunk that low." He cackled evilly. "It makes sense now. I didn't even know that the science and technology of biological engineering had gotten to be so advanced. Who knew that being stuck in the thermos so long could cause time to pass you by?" He added with a sinister tone as launched a massive ghost ray Danielle quickly conjured up an icy shield to disable her enemy and restrict the amount of damage it could cause. He then gave her the slip by creating a portal to the Ghost Zone and thus escaping once again.

Upset and hearing her predecessor's calls for a reply. She assured him that she survived but he was able to escape her and that she was rushing to his aid. It didn't take long at all for her to arrive there and for good reason; the fight was starting to get bad on the teens' part. He was able to capture Valerie in ghostly cords and resisting some sort of suspended animation power on him. It worked on humans and some ghosts but this ghost hybrid was apparently highly resistant to it. Sensing his ghost sense going off he created a portal to escape the other Phantom and rejoin the original back in the Ghost Zone. Just as he left Klemper floated by asking if anyone wanted to be his friend. Just Dani arrived to find Danny and Valerie released from the ghostly constructs.

"Are you two all right? We can't get separated like that again." Danielle inquired.

"Did that ghost just leave because he's afraid of Klemper?" Valerie asked slightly amused especially watching Klemper try to shower Danielle with affection. Valerie was surprisingly cool from her near death experience.

"No, I think he retreated because he was certain that Danielle was coming to save us and stop him, but Klemper arrived first." Danny answered. "Did you not see the him escape into the Ghost Zone?"

"Um doesn't he need a portal for that?" Valerie asked.

"He can create his own if he needs or wants to." Danny replied.

Suddenly Guys in White agents started to surround the teens and the older (future) ghost heroine and demanded that they surrender to which Danielle convinced Klemper to go hug the agents because they wanted to be his friends. Fortunately Klemper was very gullible and easy to persuade and thus gave the Guys in White surprise when a large and overly friendly ghost tried to give them a bear hug but accidentally breathed his icy breathe on the agents giving both the Phantoms and the Red Huntress the distraction they needed to flee.

Dawn was starting to break and they saw firefighters putting out the blazing buildings that the enemy had started and news media reporting the incident. Later while watching the news came to their knowledge that Mayor Masters was unaccounted for and possibly missing. Even more it was suggested disregard the mayor's original remarks that the city was in no real danger and that Danny Phantom was to blame for all this. Many took up the suggestion that Amity Park should be evacuated and so should other nearby communities as a precaution. Even more a number of members of the public had dubbed the vicious menace as Dan Phantom to help tell the difference between him and the heroic Danny Phantom that Amity Park became known for.

Vlad kept desperately searching for a way out of the Ghost Zone but it all seemed to be futile. Even asking for other ghosts proved to be of little help. It seemed that his personal portal was turned off or worse damaged, dismantled, or possibly destroyed. It was easier to buy another mansion rather than build another functioning portal. He was unable to locate the Fentons' portal. Was something wrong with it? Suddenly swarms of ghosts began to flee in fright from an enemy that bore Danny Phantom symbol except he was a lot taller, tougher, more muscular, wore a cape, and had fangs, pale green skin, red eyes, and fiery hair.


	13. Return to the Ghost Zone

Chapter 13

Vlad fled from the presence of the ghost once it laid eyes on him. If these other ghosts feared this specter, then that was reason enough for him. Try as Vlad might, the specter that he and the other ghosts were fleeing from caught up and captured him with ghostly cords.

"Greetings there V-man, there's no need to struggle." His captor greeted in a sarcastic tone. "You must have thought that I forgot about you. Don't worry I haven't abandoned you…yet. Can you tell me where and how to find the Fentons? They weren't home."

Vlad felt a chill of fear run down his back. Why was this ghost after the Fentons and why did he bear Danny Phantom's symbol? Truly this ghost had the most evil of intentions imaginable if he wanted to take out the Fentons so that he could attack the city or something else malicious.

"Don't worry Vlad, I'm your future." The captor said in a less menacing tone in order to coax out information from Vlad.

"Then why do you bear his symbol?" Vlad inquired uncertain of this particular Phantom's plans.

"Oh that's because I defeated him and is now his future too. Folks usually just call me Phantom in the future." Replied the evil ghost in a wicked tone.

Vlad shivered in fear unsure of what to say and how to respond to such requests or even demands.

"Answer me Cheesehead!" the Dark Phantom snarled and gave the mayor a slight pseudo shock.

"I don't know! Nor does anyone else that I know of is aware of where they went! I'm as confused and uncertain as you are." Vlad answered in anger and fright. "They did leave me a message but they didn't tell me where they were going or how long they were going to be gone for. I didn't take it seriously because I thought it was silly nonsense or some sort of joke." Vlad added.

"Do you have any idea where Danielle is?" Dark Danny pressed on trying to at least get some useful information out of Vlad. He was hoping that he could destroy, corrupt, or imprison the younger Danielle somehow and thus not have to worry about the adult Dani Phantom anymore.

"I don't know where she is either. Danny and Valerie rescued her from my clutches trashed my lab in the process and left my mansion." Vlad admitted.

"And you allowed that?" The Dark Phantom hissed in annoyance supposing Vlad to be inept.

"I couldn't expose my dual identity to Valerie. She hates ghosts, has advanced anti ghost hunting and tracking equipment. I hired her to do some of my bidding including tracking Daniel and capturing Danielle. She probably wouldn't be above attacking her boss for being part ghost." Vlad explained to his captor the best he could. He still didn't know what else to say or what this evil and powerful specter wanted.

Vlad watched his captor's face turn sour with frustration. He was depending greatly on Vlad to give him much needed information about his former family and friends but it turned out Vlad was denying knowledge about their whereabouts. That left the wicked ghost with another option: torture. If Vlad cracked then he knew that this hybrid was hiding something. If not then Vlad took a torture for nothing. From what Dark Dan could tell was that Vlad wasn't on friendly terms with the other hybrid or the hybrid's dad.

Meanwhile back in Amity Park, Danny, Danielle, and Valerie met in a secret quiet place away from the press in order to discuss a possible plan on how to defeat the enemy, however due to Valerie's constant disruptive questions about why should she trust them and where the female 'Danny' came from they ended up cancelling the plan because Valerie wasn't willing to listen or trust them. They would have to tell Valerie about the enemy and communicate with her anyway but she's was too suspicious to be cooperative. Even more the stress seemed to be making Danielle sick. They couldn't reveal secrets about Danny's past to her at this time. This wasn't looking good. They could really use Valerie's aid but the Phantoms had reason to believe that she would turn on them. Still they had to make Valerie feel like she was doing a service to the community. It would be better that she fight the other Phantom than them.

Both Dani and Danny left for another private place to plan and contact their family. Danny was very troubled of the sudden revelation he gave his parents about his ghost half. He didn't really blame Danielle his clone at all. She herself was in a pinch and coming to him was probably the best thing to do. His evil twisted self was too much for her to handle alone. He then proceeded to call his mom.

"Danny are you all right? We just saw the news report." His mother asked in a worried tone. He could hear shuffling of footsteps from others trying to get closer in order to listen.

"I all right and so is Danielle. Although I think she's becoming sick from the stress. I just want to let you know. Have you made any progress on any weapons to make him less powerful or remove the time medallion?" Danny asked.

"Umm...Danny isn't that something you should ask Clockwork? How the heck do you suppose your mom and dad will know how that works?" Sam answered in an unsure tone. He knew at once he was put on speaker phone but he really didn't care.

"I think that my mom and dad should know something about separating

"Danny, is Danielle running a fever or anything?" Maddie asked.

"No, I just feel nauseated." Danielle answered. "I've been feeling this way for a while."

Danny's heart sunk, this was a bad time to get or feel sick. The thought of fighting his evil alternate self alone once again made Danny sick to his stomach. No doubt that Evil Danny would be super ticked off about losing to his former weakling self even though it happened quite a while ago. Danielle herself wouldn't have recruited him if she was positive that she could deal with such an enemy.

Eventually Dark Danny Phantom figured that Vlad was telling the truth and honestly didn't know where the Fentons were hiding. He decided to return to Earth his former home that he took great pride in trashing it along with causing chaos and anarchy during his timeline. He would deal with Vlad later. There he arrived just outside of Amity Park and looked out toward the horizon. He had to figure out where Vlad's new/current home was so that he could relocate or destroy his weapons/technology or possibly use them against the other Phantoms. However he would have to impersonate the mayor but he was positive that Vlad kept his ghost powers a secret from all those closest to him. Only during that fateful reunion he arrogantly revealed his half ghost status to Danny assuming that this inexperienced newbie wouldn't be capable of stopping him. However Danny was somehow able to escape the trap set for him and defeat Vlad using the Fenton RV. Dark Dan wasn't going to be stupid, arrogant, or over confident this time especially the clone being around. He couldn't afford to underestimate them this time. However he couldn't help but giggle at the fact that he had some control over the Guys in White and that they didn't suspect anything.

He may not know where Vlad's weapons were as of this time but he could still get the Guys in White to do his bidding and even find and capture both the original and the clone for him. That way he could buy time and trick just about everyone else. He then proceeded to the mayor's office and made a duplicate to impersonate Vlad Masters to fool the public and order ghost hunters to get capture the Phantoms.

Meanwhile Danny and Danielle snuck into their empty residence to find someplace comfortable for Danielle to rest and find some medications for her condition. Everything seemed to be normal (for a human) other than the nausea and some dizziness she was feeling. They kept very quiet to avoid any attention. The news media had several reporters going there see if anyone was home or why they left, and why was it so dangerous.

A short nap seemed to help Danielle and Danny began to wonder what was afflicting her. She had mentioned that she was feeling this way on and off for over a week now. Eventually she woke up.

"Danielle, are you feeling better?" He inquired.

"Moderately." She replied. "Sometimes I need to give myself a chance to recovery, but this has got to be the worst time for get sick like this."

"I hope this isn't too invasive or personal of a question, but is it possible that you might be expecting?" He asked with a bit of a blush hoping not to offend her.

"Unless men can get pregnant too, no. My husband has been feeling the same way. I think we picked up a pathogen from somewhere, something, or someone. He even went to a doctor recently and the doctor hasn't found anything causing it. I think the stress is making it worse or that my stress is somehow contagious." Dani answered with and explanation.

They figured that their best option as of this time was to rest, plan, and snack for their human selves. Danny then turned on the news to see if anything had changed. The mayor was being featured about his theory of the Fentons whereabouts. However he seemed to be blasting verbally Maddie as much as Jack for being morons despite their knowledge on ghosts and anti ghost technology. This seemed to be weird to Danny because usually he would ridicule his father but not his mom.

Then Dani's eyes got real big and her jaw dropped.

"Danny, I don't think that's really Vlad. I think that's Dark Danny Phantom. He's impersonating Vlad." She stated in realization and fear.


	14. Exposure

Danny was stunned at her comment. How could that be the Dark Phantom. It was Vlad...unless...

"Danny, your alternate evil self is capable of shape shifting. Don't you remember how he tricked your friends and sister until he revealed himself to Jazz?" She stated.

Danny's blood ran cold with realization and then he got upset. "Why doesn't anyone bother to tell me this? How can I successfully defeat him if I don't know fully what he's capable of?"

"I think they assumed that you either knew or figured that since he was defeated it didn't matter. But never mind that for now. He's probably scheming on which heads of state or defense to impersonate so that he can cause chaos and anarchy." Dani explained as she got off the couch she was laying and prepared to leave.

"You're not going to try to stop him are you? Just earlier you claimed to be feeling sick." He added.

"Not without a plan." She replied. "Besides we've got to do something or else he will make the first move with or without our meddling. He may do something drastic or subtle. We could even expose him without any expense to ourselves, but we must move quickly. In his alternate reality he killed and impersonated various government officials and even started wars within and between countries."

Without another word they both left for City Hall.

While rambling on about the ineptness of the Fentons and the weakness of Danny Phantom the disguised mayor felt a painful shock that pulsed through his body. Then he was shot with another anti ghost ray that gave an equally painful jolt. While he was writhing in pain he heard a familiar voice screaming at and taunting him. No it couldn't but then it could've, yes it was her...The younger present Valerie Gray but in a different suit. It looked more high tech than the one he recalled her originally wearing and in the alternate future timeline that he escaped from his prison. From what he could tell she was madder than a hive of hornets.

"THAT'S MORE THAN ENOUGH TRASH TALKING FROM YOU MAYOR MASTERS! I KNOW WHAT YOU REALLY ARE!" She screamed at him with anti ghost weapons aiming directly at what she thought was the mayor and her (former) employer. She was determined to expose him for what he was.

"I KNOW WHAT YOU REALLY ARE! I'M GOING TO EXPOSE YOU IN FRONT OF THE MEDIA AND THE PUBLIC!" She yelled as she fired another shot at him. This one was worse than the other two that felt almost like the Fenton Peeler when Jazz used it on him. It felt like an outer layer of flesh was being torn from him. Suddenly everyone including Valerie were in for a nasty surprise with what they saw muscular being with fire for hair, pale green skin, and blood red eyes. The crowd gasped and shrieked in fear, repulse, and uncertainty. Enraged by being exposed he let out a roar and sprung after Valerie who was suddenly paralyzed in surprise because she expected to Vlad Plasmius not this ghost.

Suddenly an ice ray hit him off balance and caused him to fall near the crowd of citizens who ran in a panic. He then saw both his former self and clone made from him. He was so ticked off and in such pain that he must have not noticed his ghost sense go off. Quickly he created duplicates to do battle with them but at a distance too. His plan to impersonate the mayor and rile up the citizens of Amity Park into mob mentality failed by another old nemesis. Somehow she found out about Vlad Masters being part ghost. He hadn't counted on this, now all he felt like he could do was lay waste to civilization and the Ghost Zone like he did in the alternate timeline. He had nothing to lose except his existence.

Dark Danny Phantom shot mini ghost bombs but the other Phantoms came prepared. The gadgets they used not only block, or defused, but it sent any ghost related blasts back toward the target that they originated from hence the enemy ghost. Now he was dealing with not only two other Phantoms, but that they were armed and had teamed up with the present Valerie Gray who clearly had new and improved weapons/devices. Even more the present Danny seemed to have figured out how to duplicate himself which would make him harder to defeat.

In no time a full blown brawl had taken place in the sky above City Hall. With all the ghosts bearing the same symbol it seemed tricky for some bystanders to tell which ghosts were against each other at first. It didn't take long for them to not only figure it out but to leave the area since the Dark Phantom started to use them as target practice. Fortunately for them Danielle had already mastered how to conjure ecto shields from a distance. Within minutes all the bystanders had left.

Cars and other vehicles were being thrown around and ghost rays showered all around. Debris scattered everywhere. Not wanting his enemies to gain anymore advantage he tried to capture them all in his ghostly cords so that he fused back together to unleash the ghostly wail. However they proved too slick for him. He could get closer, but that would mean being within range of the Fenton Thermos. A risk he felt was too great. Too bad for him that he didn't have any allies as of this time. Instead of fighting them, the Dark Phantom took off and all his duplicates in to cause danger and destruction wherever they went. This forced the hybrids and the reluctant ghost hunter to split up and canvas the area.

Still even thought the fight was technically over the conflict wasn't and there was still a major risk. Camera crews had managed to capture video of the villainous specter impersonating the mayor and getting exposed which was enough to convince even more people to evacuate the city and nearby areas. Before long he was dubbed Dan Phantom by the press as an evil impersonator of the area's beloved ghostboy hero as well.

Quickly Valerie and the Phantoms used their tracking devices to follow their enemy despite him being invisible. Because Valerie was fully human and unable to duplicate herself she was accompanied by Phantom duplicates in case she needed ghostly aid. Danny and Danielle split into with them each having ghost weapons and devices. They couldn't duplicate their equipment. If the villain slipped into the Ghost Zone they weren't going to follow him at least through the portals he produced. They did however both have portable ghost portal makers. Like their enemy they could follow him into the Ghost Zone and leave as well causing him to lose a crucial advantage.

It didn't take long for one of the duplicates of Dan Phantom to cause trouble by trying to blow up a chemical plant. As usual he was ticked off at the fact that the other Phantoms were able to follow him despite him being invisible. It then dawned on him that they must be tracking him someway and every time he tried to attack them his enemies were able to counter his attacks. He took every measure he could think of but somehow a good Phantom (usually Danielle) was able to block his attacks. Had the Danny Phantom of her time arrived with her he felt he wouldn't have much more than a ghost of a chance against them.

It didn't take long for them follow Dan Phantom to one of the nicer neighborhoods in Amity Park. One that Danny recognized. It was Valerie's old neighborhood with her old house being among the homes. There he began another attack against innocent citizens living their lives and trashing their property. There happened to be party going on for the popular kids and a few lucky well connected ones. Dan was tickled at the thought of being able 'kill' the life of a party, especially one that his younger former hero self wasn't likely to receive any invitations to.

Without any warning he crashed the party by causing explosions and ghost rays to go just about everywhere and thus frightening the partygoers. He took great pleasure in grabbing one of the larger blonde boys bringing him close to his smirking face.

"Hello Dash Baxter my old tormentor, I almost forgot you existed. You're as strong as a mule and about as dim as one. How you managed to be on athletic teams at school with your grades is still a mystery to me." Dark Dan hissed coldly.

"How do you know my name ghost and about my grades ghost?" Dash demanded. "Why do you sport Danny Phantom's symbol?" Dash then questioned the evil ghost with wails of fright from others.

"That's because I am him or at least his future you blonde bozo." He laughed evilly until an ice ray hit him and froze him part way and allowed Dash to escape.

Before he could cause any serious damage or loss of life he discovered to his dismay that both the Phantom heroes had arrived to spoil his fun yet again. He melted and blow off most of the ghostly ice and made his escape from the range of the ghost weapons. Sudden cries and screams of fright turned to cheers and excitement at not just the sight of the recognized ghost hero but an older female lookalike.

He then unleashed an attack of advanced ecto constructs and flew toward them with a ghost power that seemed to destabilize ghost weapons. He would've been able to defeat his younger self (after all in the previous fight he was just toying with his younger self). However with Danielle's expertise he felt it was best for him to slip into the Ghost Zone once more. Seeing this as a victory for the heroes, the partygoers then erupted into cheers of excitement, praise, and congratulations and most were asking or begging them to stay but they couldn't. Not with such a monster on the loose. They had to rejoin the rest and possibly head to the Ghost Zone.

While heading out of the neighborhood to rejoin the rest of the duplicates and individuals. Dusk was coming and they informed Valerie Gray in more detail about the enemy ghost they battle (although they left out his true origins). Even more they feared he had done something to the mayor even though they didn't like or cared much for him. Now the public just thought this ghost was nothing more than a psychopathic menace with the most evil of intentions.

Danny and Danielle weighed the options of whether or not to head into the Ghost Zone. Eventually they decided for it with Danielle leading the way. Once a portal was opened a swam of various ghosts took advantage of the opening and left in a similar manner as a stampede. Once several of those ghosts noticed the symbols they both bore they freaked out and tried to escape back into the Ghost Zone creating quite the traffic jam. Still both Phantoms force their way into the Ghost Zone before the portal closed.

Once they arrived they could easily feel the moods of anxiety and fear. They figured out instinctively that the evil ghost that the press nicknamed Dan Phantom was no doubt behind this gloom. There was destruction of various realms and several ghosts that were extremely distrusting of them because of what happened to them. Walker and his police force could do nothing about it because ironically they were imprisoned themselves.

One ghost they were surprised to bump into was Vlad Plasmius himself. He managed to free himself from the ghostly cords that Dan Phantom tied him up with but he was still stranded in the Ghost Zone. Vlad himself was shocked to see an adult female Danny Phantom along with the Danny he knew. Could she also be female Danny clone he created? No it could be, she was too old. He heard of growth spurts and went through some himself but this was ridiculous. Did that stabilizing formula Danny use have anything to do with height and adult figure?

"Daniel? Danielle?" He stammered in surprise. They were among the last he expected to see or venture into the Ghost Zone. It was a very awkward feeling and moment for everyone but there was no time to play catch up or exchange words. Neither one of the Phantoms had any interest to aid Vlad as of this time because of his evil schemes and manipulative personality.

"Daniel! Wait!" Vlad yelled out.

"Forget it Plasmius! After you abandoned me to face Vortex alone you have proven yourself completely untrustworthy and I cannot team up with you!" Danny shouted back at his enemy. Vlad sure had the nerve to request help when he didn't provide help himself. Danny and Danielle then ventured deeper and deeper into the Ghost Zone to zero in on their evil target.


	15. Help

Vlad called out but it was all in vain since the Phantoms weren't going to pay any attention to him or heed his requests. He especially didn't like the glares they gave him which screamed liar, schemer, traitor, cheater, and villain. He had no one to blame but himself for his pride, greed, and short sightedness. They were in no mood nor did they have any reason to trust or recruit him. They were still going to need all the help they could get. Fortunately Dani knew of some ghost allies in the future that would recognized them and be willing to aid them.

She took them through a winding secret path into one of the many parts of the Ghost Zone which he wasn't familiar with. It was almost like Earth with rocky cliffs, mountains, breezes, and pleasant aromas, various other landscapes. She took him to a cave with elaborate carvings which she describe as a secret short cut. Then she described in quick detail of these allies.

"Danny, these are gryphon ghosts. This leads to a secret courtyard. Like Clockwork and the Observants, the Gryphon Queen can see into the future, but not in every way as Clockwork but in more detail than the Observants. She knows of multiple possibilities which is more than the Observants, but not all or which one like Clockwork can. You have to be right in heart in order to enter. Very few ghosts know about this realm or how to enter it." She explained as a portal opened. She figured that this would be one of the last places the Dark Phantom was going to be able to enter or destroy because of his ignorance about it and possibly inability to enter and thus attack it.

Once they passed through the portal, Danny felt like he had stepped into the Garden of Eden because it was full of lush vegetation, flowers, fruit, and numerous small creatures. There was soothing melodious sounds that all seem to blend in together as soft symphony. Maybe Undergrowth ought to follow this example because none of the plants were of his seed. No doubt his evil twisted self would trash this place since he lost all appreciation for anything lovely, wholesome, or peaceful. He felt his stress levels drop significantly.

Suddenly a gryphon ghost landed nearby inquiring of what these ghosts were doing here. It wore the most brilliant armor and could look at Danielle at eyelevel.

"What are you—Oh my goodness, you two are the famous Phantoms. We've been told about your arrival and destruction an enemy of ghosts has been making. Come follow me. The royal court is expecting you." They followed it out of the garden, over a canyon, large waterfall, and a mountain to reach the royal court. There the met in a an open courtyard full of commotion but then it got quiet quickly once the Phantoms landed and their gryphon escort left. Danny looked around and saw an even larger gryphon wearing fabulous robes, glittering gems, and a crown and headdress that seemed to not only to shine but as if it was a source of light itself. It then summoned them forward and seemed to give a signal to speak.

"Queen Syracuse, my brother and I both risked our own safety to prevent that psychopath Phantom from plaguing both the Earth and the Ghost Zone with death and violence. I know that by far most of our other allies can't see into the future like you or have means of tracking this enemy. We don't have a relationship with them yet. In fact most of them don't know or have befriended us yet. We are in desperate need of your aid." Dani addressed in her request to the queen of the gryphons.

"Dani Phantom, I am well aware of the trials you and your brother face. I am more than willing to help the both of you. I have foreseen the evil that your enemy plans to inflict on others. All of us gryphons are well aware of how wicked and heartless he is. However you realize that the time stream has now been altered and quite possibly cannot be reversed. I know it is of no fault of your own." The queen stated as she waited for a response from the heroine.

"Yes your majesty, I am well aware of how messed up the timeline has gotten. I'm more than certain that the Observants didn't foresee that one coming." Danielle answered.

Her reply brought an eruption of chuckles from the entire court. Danny guessed that the gryphons were well aware of the Observants being in charge yet they were nowhere near as competent at being all knowing and seeing as Clockwork. Danny couldn't help but smile himself. Dani wasn't joking but she was telling the truth.

"It will be a great honor to aid the both of you. In fact it will be one of the greatest honors for us to serve you. However we won't be directly aiding you. I do have an instrument that will be vital to tracking down and thwarting your enemy. Still we will do what we can to prevent any more havoc he wrecks in both the Ghost Zone and Earth." Queen Syracuse promised.

An intense ray of light appeared and a floating orb came to both Phantoms' reach. It seemed to morph into two separate but identical items that appeared to be some sort of compass. They also looked like exquisitely carve and crafted ornaments.

"These compasses will guide you to your target and also point out or name an escape route if you need it. You must have righteous or neutral reasons for using them. If the Dark Phantom was ever to get his hands on one it would either self-destruct or cease to function." The Queen explained.

Suddenly Danny's spirits lifted and he became more optimistic. He really felt uneasy about requesting the Infi-Map from the Far Frozen even in this great time of need, but at least these will do the trick plus they would be useless in the wrong hands. He and Danielle were going to come across this race in the future and befriend them as well. At least there were a few other ghosts that were friends and defenders as well.

He watched Danielle as she activated her compass to see if she knew how to work it since she didn't ask any of the gryphon ghosts how to do it.

"Show us where Dark Danny Phantom is." Dani commanded the compass. It spun its needles and created an image of the bloodthirsty specter clearly in attack mode. "He is breaching Pandora's defenses at her realm. He seeks her box so that he can unleash evil it contains in both the Ghost Zone and on Earth." The compass replied in a soft and haunted voice. Quickly Dani thanked Queen Syracuse for her aid and they both left the gryphons' domain and took the shortest route to Pandora's. Danny knew Pandora would put up a fight but what chance did she have against his alternate mass murdering anarchist?

It didn't take long for Dark Danny to bust through Pandora's first line of defense or the next. It was taking a lot more effort to breach the next level. She could tell that he was downright determined to obtain something from her. She did better locking up and hiding her box so that another ghost like the Box Ghost wouldn't snatch it as easily. Still he was succeeding at invading her realm despite the defenses she and her forces were putting up. She hadn't seen or heard of a ghost quite this powerful or evil since Pariah Dark.

Just after he broke through the third barrier and was compromised and her forces defeated, two more ghosts wearing black and white while sporting the same symbol as the invader, but they attacked him and stopped his rampage. He then ceased the attack on Pandora's inner defenses.

"HOW DID YOU TWO FIND ME SO QUICKLY!?" He roared in rage.

"We guess that you are as cunning as you think you are Hothead!"Dani shouted back.

"Seriously, if arrogance was an official Olympic Sport, you'd win the gold!" Danny teased. "Probably because you would kill or scare off the rest of the competition." He added.

The Dark Phantom then directed his attacks on toward his weakling former self and the clone. He now may have to abort his original plan of stealing Pandora's Box or anything else she had that would give him an advantage. Even with duplicates, he had to be careful because Pandora and her forces would take advantage of the distraction and launch a surprise attack on him. He was in a full rage with his flaming hair spreading all over his cape and arms. He aimed his fury at Danielle who not only deflected it, but seem to have redirected the attack back at him but it still was a close call. In his fit of rage he had forgotten about Danny.

"This is all your fault!" He snarled at them. Both of them smirked and shook their heads at his faulty logic and shortsightedness.

"Dude, you chose to cheat on that test, allowed yourself to be miserable, and ultimately turn evil. You ultimately cheated yourself. That is your own dumb fault. Not mine or hers. Nor is it Vlad's or anyone else's human or ghost." Danny stated. Although such a statement declaring a simple truth only seemed to enrage him more. The angrier he got, the more powerful his attacks became, however he also got sloppier and both Danny and Danielle were more than willing and able to exploit that crucial disadvantage.

Some of Pandora's soldiers fired some sort of substance of at him that seemed to have paralyzing effect on him. Then some javelins were thrown at him that stung greatly. He was able to deflect more javelins and fiery arrows but that also caused him to halt his attacks. The effects of the javelins didn't really work but he took it as a sign that his plan was compromised and he was better off retreating. Facing either the Phantoms or Pandora's forces alone was one thing but together without a plan or allies himself? It was becoming pointless and so he ceased his invasion by going heading into the real world via a portal that he conjured.

Neither one of the Phantoms decided to follow him because he might be waiting for them for an ambush attack. They quickly made sure that Pandora was all right and secure. Then they followed the trail that lead to the evil ghost into the real world for they still had both compasses. They followed the path directed to the real world and into Amity Park where they would for sure meet Dark Danny and all his mighty fury.


	16. A Ghost Zone Battle

Chapter 16

Quickly both Dani and Danny returned to the real world through a different route. They noticed a bright green flash off to the distance which they feared was their enemy on another rampage. Quickly rushing toward the area confirmed their fears and suspicions. However Dark Danny's ghost sense went off and he strongly suspected the both of them but it could've easily been another ghost. Thank goodness for the power of invisibility however their enemy had it himself. No doubt he was going on a rampage but at least the vast majority of the community had evacuated. He didn't stay long and Dani knew that he couldn't or would resist the urge to start a skirmish at a border to start two countries warring with another.

However the compasses they had allowed them to track ghosts even while they were invisible. Quickly she and Danny formed a plan to ambush him with as little risk as possible. Still Danny wondered why the Gryphon Queen suggested/warned him to look out for his clone. She was clearly more experienced and powerful them him at this time. Shouldn't she be the one watching out for him? Danny could definitely see her taking deep breaths and prepping herself mentally for the obvious fight/battle they were going to have.

"Ready Danny?" She asked in a cool but confidant tone.

"I'm more than ready." He answered in the most confidant tone he could muster without sounding cocky.

Without another word they flew toward the evil entity to trap and subdue him. It only took a matter of seconds for them to spoil his 'fun' and 'excitement' of seeking for targets to destroy. Even more the Guys in White were moving in on him but they weren't prepared to face his Ghostly Wail. But before he could finally neutralize the ghost hunting/fighting government agents a cold ray froze him inside a chunk of ice. However he was able to blast himself out. Quickly he created multiple duplicates in full attack mode of himself to do battle with the both of them. However they had a plan on how to bypass his attacks thanks to the new and improved Jack o' Nine Tails Dani had taken with her, but he still was plenty dangerous and had a plan for them. He managed to capture Danny with one of his ecto constructs and a couple of duplicates captured Danielle but she was able to break free.

Danny felt a surge of a pseudo shock rage through his body forcing him to turn human again. And once again he was facing those same blood red eyes staring at him face to face. Also his equipment was torn from him so that he couldn't use it.

"Give up Danny. You have no future and you know it. You're going to lose anyway." He smirked.

Suddenly a bright purple ray hit the evil ghost forcing him to release Danny who ran a distance but looked back to see Valerie Gray aiming her ecto weapons at the evil ghost.

"STAY BACK YOU SPECTRAL SCUM OR DEAL WITH ME!" She shouted. However it proved to be a poor choice of words because the Dark Phantom took it as a challenge. Even more he was super eager to do away with Valerie Gray whether this was a past, present, future, or alternate version of her. Forgetting Danny he launched at her using special power to avoid being affected by her anti ghost weapons.

Fortunately for Valerie, Danny used the distraction as an opportunity to change back to his Phantom form and both freeze the attacking ghost and move Valerie out of the way. He tried to use his thermos to trap the enemy but strange new version of intangibility allowed for him to slip out and away. Danny grunted in frustration and quickly went to aid his clone who was about to be overwhelmed. Suddenly Queen Syracuse's words rand in his mind about watching out for Danielle. He jumped in front of a Dark Danny duplicate and used his ecto shield as a buffer to knock the ghost back. It also helped out a ton with Valerie shooting ecto blasts at the enemy Phantoms. However Danny took another hit that once again forced him to turn human but fortunately Danielle was able to save and move him and Valerie was too busy shooting and never saw the transformation.

Finally Valerie was able to use a weapon in her arsenal to drive the enemy specters away but found herself alone with both the original Danny Phantom and the older female one gone as well. Did her weapon drive them out as well?

Danielle flew into a building that didn't seem to be occupied at the time to check on Danny. She greatly feared that he may have serious injuries and his life may even be in danger. Danny was responsive but couldn't transform back so she figured to take him back to the secret lab with the rest of the family and his friends. She left a pair of duplicates to do patrolling and to make sure that other citizens were given at least some protection while she took Danny in to be treated and checked. She also hoped that Valerie wouldn't attack or fight with her duplicates.

The rest of the Fentons as well as Sam and Tucker were at first happy to see them but they quickly turned concerned when they saw what happened to Danny. He was then given a good check over and fortunately nothing serious was found. He just need a little time to recover but time was of the essence.

"This is too close Danny, we probably need another plan or maybe some weapons. Not only did you get overpowered, but Valerie could've seen you change back. Mom—um, Maddie, what other functional equipment to we have that we can easily use besides thermoses, ecto guns, or the Jack o' Nine Tails?" She was certain that Mrs. Fenton wouldn't like being called 'Mom' by her yet because she had yet to be adopted.

"Well, we have a few, ghost nets, the ghost catcher, the Fenton X-tractor, some of this old ecto dejecto serum, and a few tracking devices." Maddie answered and showed.

"Don't forget the Fenton Anti Creep stick." Jack added.

"Dad, this is an evil, powerful ghost from an alternate future, not a ball or a piñata." Jazz reminded.

"Ah, Jazzypants, that's where you're wrong because this is a new and improved Fenton Anti Creep Stick." Jack proudly announced as he pressed a button that activated all sorts of ghost fighting weapons that came out of the wooden frame.

"Nice one Mr. Fenton, it's like a super swiss army knife." Tucker complimented.

"Um, thanks but we'll think about it Dad." Danny stated unsure if it was practical. He wasn't going to use it unless he knew it was practical for what he was up against.

"Danielle, dear, you don't look too well." Maddie noted as she saw that her son's clone was apparently suffering from a headache and possible nausea.

"I don't feel well. I think it's due to the stress and lack of sleep. I haven't been feeling my best either to begin with." Dani answered in a groan.

"Danielle, I don't think or want you to keep fighting this ghost. I'm afraid all the stress will cause you to have a nervous wreck." Maddie stated with concern.

"Do you want Danny to face this monster alone? We can't seem to get any other ghost to face him for us." Dani rebuttled.

Maddie then handed the clone a couple of aspirins from the first aid kit and a glass of water. Maddie was worried about her. Technically this young woman was her daughter or at least was going to be. Maddie couldn't help but be worried about her or her son.

A short while later live news reported on a team of government ghost fighters had be beaten by the mysterious ghost that the media and public had begun to figure out Dan Phantom being behind it since he knew of the plans. It became more evident with the compasses they giving them warnings that the enemy was heading their way. Quickly both of the hybrids each grabbed a sack of chosen equipment to face the foe.

Try as they might Mr. and Mrs. Fenton were unable to convince the ghost hybrids to stay put. Too much was at stake for a mild illness to stop. They rushed at full speed to confront him. There they saw him grinning at the wreckage clearly proud of himself and he started bragging to immobilize agents on the gruesome ways he planned on torturing and killing them.

Before Dan Phantom could act out is sick fantasy, his ghost sense went off and he lost interest in the defeated agents and to face whatever activated his ghost sense. Just as he suspected a pair of ghost hybrids. He came in full fury ready to pounce on them but then noticed that they were holding ghost weapons and he quickly called off his attack and retreated into the Ghost Zone.

Quickly Dani set the agents free by cancelling out Dark Phantom's immobilizing power and she and Danny used their compasses to find a natural temporary portal into the Ghost Zone. Once again it didn't take long for them to find the enemy. None of them were pleased to see the other.

Dan roared in disgust and showed his great displeasure by hurling numerous boulders that he gave explosive properties toward them but they were able to stop and counter his attacks. He was certain that Danielle was key to him not being able to fully succeed. However he planned for something for her specifically. He managed to get close enough to lasso both of them with a ghost cord which they managed to resist greatly he took great interest in Danielle as in forcing her to revealing her human form and stunning her for second.

"I always wanted to try this, separating a hybrid's ghost and human halves. Afterall ladies first."He cackled with a wicked grin as he dug into her bag pulling out handheld ghost weapons hoping to find something like ghost gauntlets.

"Hey Fang Face! If you want this go fetch it. We've been tracking you!" He called out as he removed and kicked his compass as hard as he could.

The Dark Phantom created a duplicate to chase after it and maneuvered himself to body slam the evil ghost over the stunned Danielle. Fortunately she managed to either snap out of her state or was faking it and gave Dark an ecto foot in the face however neither could get free. Even more the duplicate returned with the nonfunctioning compass. The enemy wasn't pleased with being tricked. It seemed as if they were done for. Danny tried to scream his ghostly wail but his mouth got covered and was given more ghostly restraints plus Danielle was restrained further too.

Just when it seemed like he was going to deliver a deadly blow another ghost pounced on him and cut the restraints with his sword. The ghost aiding them looked like a tiger wearing oriental robes and seemed to move like a human as if he was a weretiger or something.

"Go now and grab your stuff Phantoms, I'll distract him." The tiger ghost commanded. They didn't stick around to thank or question him. Danielle was unable to change back into her ghost form so Danny grabbed and carried his clone while she snatched the sacks and as fast as he could with her to safety.

Once he felt he was in a safe spot he stopped to check on her and had to ask a questions about their helper.

"Dani, who was that? Was he another ally?" Danny asked in amazement, awe, and gratitude.

"Yes." Danielle answered. "That was Master Holang-i, an expert in many martial arts, weapons, medicines, and languages. Holang-i is Korean for tiger. You can call him Master Tiger if that is easier for you to remember.

After a few unsuccessful tries they started to get worried because Danielle couldn't change back into her Phantom form. Fortunately the Far Frozen's realm was nearby. Still there wasn't a coat for her. They decided to try anyway and at least they knew where to go and how to get to the right spot quickly so that Danielle wouldn't get too cold.

Meanwhile the mysterious robed tiger ghost wielding a saber had vanished allowing for the other Phantoms to snatch the gear and take off to who knew where. Not only that he was injured too but it wouldn't be for long. He did however find a curious little object that looked like some sort of compass. Try as he might he couldn't find out how to make it work. It must have been damaged or altered in order to prevent him from using it. Angrily he chucked it as far and hard as he could. Now to head back into the real world. At least being called Dan Phantom was better than being called Danny Phantom. However he had another 'brilliant' idea.

Danny ended up bringing a warm skin for Danielle entering the Far Frozen's domain (because it was too cold for a human to handle) and then bringing her back to the medical facility where a medical staff was waiting for her. Fortunately it didn't take long for them to discover what was wrong and how to correct it quickly. Danny himself knew what it was like to have his powers shorted out and he recalled how the young/present Danielle used to have unstable powers that she couldn't use until she became stable. It was going to be a short time until she could use her powers fully again.

Meanwhile Dan Phantom created himself a portal but instead of entering the real world himself he chased hordes of weaker ghosts through the portal in order to distract and overwhelm the other Phantoms and any all the other ghost fighters a run for their money. He split himself into numerous duplicates and started herding the other frightened ghosts toward what they thought was a means of escape like a shepherd or a herding dog. However one of the ghosts in the crowd was Vlad himself who got overlooked in the chaos. It also helped a lot with other ghosts surrounding him so that his enemy or the duplicates couldn't see him. After Dark Danny felt he rounded up enough ghosts he closed the portal to search around for the other Phantoms in the Ghost Zone. With the older more experienced Phantom's powers shorted out, she would be powerless for a number of hours making the far easier to defeat.


	17. Final Showdowns

Chapter 17

The Far Frozen medical staff weren't able to find anything wrong or serious with Danielle but Danny suspected that they could've found something interesting. He could tell by the muffled dialogue and tone. She was able to recover quickly enough and not a moment too late. The enemy was nearby causing damage and trouble. They slipped out through a secret way to avoid their enemy from noticing and thus allowing them to keep the element of surprise.

While he was practicing shooting at boulders they launched an attack on him using duplicates. The duplicates gave the Dark Phantom a great surprise attack. When he turned to face what he thought were attackers Danny and Danielle were able to attack Dark Danny in a safer way. He face the duplicates and once his back was turned both Danny and Danielle launched an assault. Quickly Dark Danny turned his head at a 180 degree angle bearing his fanged frown and glaring red eyes. He then created three other duplicates to face his attackers with their weapons. Oh how he would love to trap the both of them inside the Fenton Thermos.

"Not so fast halfas!" He snarled. "You of all ghosts should know better than to confront me! If you're going to defeat me, you'll need to do better than that!" Their enemy continued. Then he and his duplicates shot out their own ghost rays and a couple of ecto constructed ghost nets. However both Phantoms were prepared for what he planned to do. Not only were his shots and attempts block but he was taking a beating. The modified gadgets were able to stun all enemy ghosts without either Danny or his clone getting too close.

Upset that a pair of hybrids were outdoing him, he let out his ghostly wail as both a scream of frustration and as a last ditch effort to keep them at bay.

Using that power forced both Danielle and Danny to abort their attack on the Dark Phantom but they still had several tricks but they didn't exactly have time on their side. So the hybrids repositioned and stuck with their plan. However their target abandoned his attack and location by creating a portal into the real world. They were certain that he would continue to face them. However he left leaving their planned attack and trap useless. He must have figured out that they were on to him. He was positive that he could take them on by himself but he decided against it in case they had a trap for him. So he to leave for the real world to give the hybrids a real surprise or what was to him a treat.

Danny and Danielle wasted no time in finding another portal into the real world. However he was long gone but they heard on local news about an evil ghost raided a government facility and destroyed loads of weapons and equipment. His menacing countenance and statements about his evil acts was all over the media. Latest reports were of him heading to a military site. This trouble Danielle greatly because in the alternate timeline he utilized American weapons to launch attacks at or near the borders of other countries to start wars. Fortunately the Guys in White were able to delay him long enough.

The news media couldn't get enough of this story about there being another Danny Phantom that was evil and an older female one. Seeing that his plans were foiled again. Seeing that the public and media couldn't seem to get enough of this epic ghost battle. So the Dark Phantom decided to give this massive and captive audience a 'real' show.

Finally Vlad escaped the Ghost Zone, however he had to find another portal instead of the known artificial ones that were commonly used. It took him a short time to figure out where he was and a while to return to Amity Park. He did send a duplicate to his mansion in Wisconsin to check on the damages there if there were any. Once Vlad arrived to Amity Park he discovered the city was practically deserted and so were nearby communities. Quite a bit of it was trashed as if an evil and powerful ghost went on a rampage. He had also never seen such a large group of Guys in White. By checking out the news his absence wasn't unnoticed nor was it taken lightly. He was going to have to conceive an excuse about why he was gone. Perhaps he could blame the one of the Phantoms but he had to make believable and blame the correct one. The one that the public would agree on.

Luckily for Vlad, the duplicate that checked out on other property of Vlad's discovered that it didn't seemed to be trashed or raided by the enemy. Possibly because this ghost didn't know about Vlad's official residence. At least the other Phantoms didn't raid or vandalize it.

Meanwhile back at the military compound 'Dan Phantom' abruptly disappeared and one of the commanding Guys in White was commanding his subordinates to shoot the remaining Phantoms despite shouts of the contrary from numerous military service personnel only to have a commanding officer silence them.

Acting on a suspicion, Danielle shot a specialized ghost ray at both the commanding officer and the leading Guy in White revealing them both to be duplicates of the dreaded Dan Phantom. With both covers blown he fought back with one being captured by the agents. The other fled to avoid being fought by the hybrids and agents.

Angered that he was foiled again by those pesky weakling hybrids and was weakened in the process his mind raced on not only how to beat them but how to exact the perfect revenge. If only he could find out were Danny's friends and family were hidden. Where would he hide them, or better what where would Danielle hide them. To avoid any unwanted attention from others he transformed into his present human form. Hopefully he could coax someone about his family's whereabouts. He hoped that he could take advantage of someone else's sympathy and not only hit his younger/former self were it hurt the most of all to nullify the older clone.

He happened to notice a large gathering of people in a camp of evacuees. He could easily kill them all here instead Amity Park however he did spot an agent for the Guys in White with anti ghost weapons. Even if he harmed any of these people in any way it was highly doubtful that he would succeed at turning his younger self evil. Even more the present Danny had his clone for support. He could take out that agent first until he heard a dreaded voice that was a source of fright and distress for Danny.

"Hey Fentoad!" Why did your folks leave town?! Did they abandon you too?! My party got crashed no thanks to your family. They're supposed to fight ghosts or are they too chicken? I guess your parents are just a pair of scammers!" The burly blonde boy called out.

No doubt that was Dash Baxter being his stupid bully self and blaming others for stuff outside of their control although this could very well be the last mistake or action Dash made. Suddenly attention had turned on Danny blowing his cover and plan. Dark Danny should've taken on another form of a random human instead. It was too late now with so many people staring and making comments.

Until recently he almost forgot that his former tormentor existed. Dash grabbing him by the shirt triggered stressful and painful memories. To Dash's sudden horror his favorite target/living punching bag morphed into the menacing ghost that everyone feared. People screamed and sprinted off in panic. Meanwhile Dash found himself in the clutches of the very ghost that the public fled from. The agent tried to fire an ecto gun at the evil ghost but Dark Danny was too quick for him. A pair of plains clothes agents were able to come to their uniformed comrade's defense and fired shots of anti ghost properties that stunned and shocked Dark Danny and as a result he released Dash who sprinted off screaming like a little girl. However he was able to resist enough and overpowered the agents with a ghostly chain. They were just not equipped nor trained well enough to face such a powerful ghost.

"If I can't take out a dumb blonde jock who picks fights first, I guess giving a trio of ghost meeting a gruesome death." He cackled with a sinister sneer and his fists glowed a bright green. Suddenly his ghost sense off and bright green flash hit causing him to release two of the agents because he could hardly react. He figured out in an instant of who it was- the clone of his former hybrid self. But where was his past/present self? Dan Phantom smelled a set up.

He glared and hissed at the female Phantom to discover that Danny blasted him through the ground and was using the infamous thermos. Quickly he used his final hostage as a human shield in order to thwart being captured. However that also equaled losing the power of negotiation due to the loss of a hostage. However Dan still knew their secrets he could still blackmail to expose them.

Dark Danny shot a ghost ray but a simple ghost shield was created by Danielle to thwart him to which he retreated. "HOW IS IT THAT YOU ALWAYS ARE ABLE TO TRACK ME?! He bellowed out with a roar that seemed to be just beneath his ghostly wail forcing the hybrids to keep their distance. This seemed too easy as Danny and Danielle decided to follow him as he was never up to any good.

Eventually Vlad was able to return to Amity Park and contact a few of his support staff and had invented a story about what happened to him. He blamed the odious ghost that had impersonated and imprisoned him which was bought without question. Still the danger was present. Blaming Danny Phantom or this new mysterious Danielle Phantom wouldn't be a smart move. But could she be the same Danielle Phantom that he created in one of his many cloning experiments? If so then she really grew up quickly and got way more powerful as well. From what he could see was that she knew how to face the very ghost that both defeated him and was causing all this havoc. Still Vlad figured that it was in his best interest to check on his bunkers possibly the remote ones too.

Meanwhile Dan Phantom headed to another small city that wasn't evacuated yet nor did it have a ghost infestation problem either; until he arrived. Plus if these hybrids followed him here he was going to give them a 'real treat.' As a bonus, there was a number of evacuees here from Amity Park. Many of the evacuees were conveniently staying in large community gymnasium until their situation improved.

He had a plan to kill and harm as many people as possible but most importantly lure the hybrids in order to get rid of Danielle one way or another and finally force his younger present self to become the evil ghost he was. If Danielle wasn't around he would have a chance to secure his future was what the Dark Phantom reasoned.

Just as he suspected both Dani and Danny Phantom arrived because he could sense them but not see them. No doubt that they were invisible in order to keep a low profile like he was. Still he could easily catch them off guard and become not only victorious but insure his existence and future.

Once they arrived they felt their own ghost senses off. With so many people they quickly came up with a plan on how to take proactive action to protect the evacuated citizens from the vile and corrupted Phantom that sought to spread destruction, fear, and despair.

Once the remaining compass pointed toward their enemy they tackled him in full gear exposing him and themselves as well to the crowd below. Once the people realized what was going on, they scrambled to escape. Dark Phantom tried to shoot deadly ghost rays at the regular humans but Danielle conjured ghost shields to deflect the harmful rays. Angrily he conjured up numerous duplicates but she just created some herself along with Danny thanks to her guidance. The citizens quickly and wisely took advantage of the opportunity to evacuate the gymnasium while the heroes fought their enemy. Fortunately they did so in an orderly fashion probably thanks to the emergency ghost drills. They didn't even need to be told. It didn't take long for the arena to empty.

Dark Phantom lunged at Danielle with his body incased in ghostly flames shooting everywhere (source form his fiery hair of course) hissing "Ladies first!"

"Fat chance Hothead! You need to cool it!" She snapped back with while shooting an icy blast that looked and sounded like a mini blizzard. Not only was she was counter and weaken him but his attack was proof that he was becoming desperate. That visit to the gryphon ghosts proved to be a wise move. Danny was able to capture him in the Jack -o- Nine tails but he was able to summon his duplicates to fight Danny back and keep the thermos at bay. What was most nerve wracking and even embarrassing was that a girl was keeping pace with him. No doubt that she had tons of experience. Now multiple duplicates of himself seemed to be caught up in various Fenton equipment. No doubt they came prepared and with a plan.

"I am not going to lose to you! Especially to a clone from that Cheesehead's experiments!" He roared in desperation.

"I hope you're hungry Hothead because you're going to be eating your words!" Danny bantered back in a sarcastic tone. This made the enemy even more upset, which equaled sloppier but also more dangerous.

The fact that Danielle was a clone apparently didn't upset her much at least not anymore and even if did come from an archenemy it was a desperate move like grasping for straws. Even if Dan Phantom exposed the other Phantoms' real identities to the public it would likely do little good because they would still have tons of public support.

Still he had something else for them; a power he didn't use as often anymore because it couldn't kill and it was less known from his infamous ghostly wail and other ghost powers. The weapons made him too weak for his ghostly wail but he still could do his special power disrupting pulse. He then let out some sort of shockwave from his form that knocked the hybrids back and stunning them for a moment and shutting off the equipment. As an extra precaution he blew up the thermoses so that he couldn't be trapped in one again. Even worse the hybrids were forced back into their human forms. The Dark Phantom's duplicates then reabsorbed back into the original which then headed toward Danielle picking her up by the arm and bringing her close to his fanged face.

"How is it that I was able to keep the Danny from your time period from following me but you're were able to make it?" He growled until he noticed the strange band on her arm that looked very familiar to him. "This thing has Clockwork's name written all over it." He chuckled in realization. He had badly injured the present Danny Phantom in the arm and it must have cause this time thing to short out. All he needed to do was to take hers away and she would be sent back to her time period and he could have another piece of Clockwork's time instruments to insure his existence.

"You know girly you sure gave me a run for my money. You won several battles but I am going to win the war. I think once I send you back I'm going to hunt down the younger Danielle Phantom of this time period. There can only be one Phantom afterall. And that's going to be me. No sexism intended." Dark Danny gloated.

"Let her go!" Danny shouted but Dark Danny just laughed at him.

"Or what?" Dan smirked. "You're as human as she is and will be for several minutes. I would really like to savor this." The evil ghost explained in a mocking tone.

Thanks to Danny's distraction, Danielle pulled something green out of her pocket and simply tossed it through the Dark Phantom.

"Savor that instead." She contended as the bright green blanket like thing went through him. Dark Phantom tried to go intangible but it was too late for him. Whatever it was somehow filtered out the time medallion inside of him and it landed on the gym floor below.

"No! NO! NOOO! NNOOOOO!" The Dark Phantom screamed in fright once he realized what happened. That medallion was the only thing that assured his existence. Once the medallion was removed he quickly became powerless and started to dematerialize because the factors that caused his existence were prevented. He tried to grab Danielle's time piece but she able to get out of his reach due to his loss of power. He quickly faded from existence.

"Oh yes! Yes! YES! YEESSS!" Danny cried shouted out with glee with the assurance that this dark future was defeated and thus prevented.

"Adios enemigo! It never was nice knowing you! You won't be missed." Danielle added.

"Dani, what was that you used?" Danny asked excitedly as he got to his feet until he stumbled back due to loss of balance. That ghostly pulse had not just affected his ghost powers but his human self too. Then Danny's tone turned to more worried one.

"Dani, is this only temporary is it?" He asked his older clone hoping for peace of mind.

"I hope so. I feel sort of funny myself. And not in a humorous way. " She answered trying to sound calm and in control.

Suddenly they both heard the muffled shouts and hum of helicopters and other large machinery most likely from the Guys in White. A mood of fear and desperation set in on the both of them because they couldn't be seen like this or be in a weakened or human state. What would these ghost authorities say or think once they stormed in to see these unbalanced people who could at best crawl and have the Fentons' ghost hunting and fighting equipment among them? Danny's mind rushed.

"Dani what do we do?" he cried out but then he noticed that she was suddenly she was right next to him, holding most of the equipment and the outside was super quiet.

"Danny we can still get out safely." She assured him and continued to explain why. "Keep that time medallion on you. I'm using this bracelet think that Clockwork lent me. I activated a time pause. We can still get out and remove all the evidence as long as you wear that time medallion you won't be affected by the pause. We'll be long gone before those agents arrive. Time is on our side."

"Will we get our powers back?" Danny inquired as he grabbed weapons and gadgets.

" I think so because he mentioned it lasting for minutes. I starting to feel a little stronger and better balanced now." She answered hopefully.

"Why didn't you pause time before?" Danny asked feeling that much of the danger and fighting could've been avoided.

"I can't pause time for someone wearing that medallion. Everyone else and everything else would freeze leaving me to fight him alone with you being paused. Not only would I be facing him alone but I would also reveal what I was using making me more vulnerable and giving him a greater advantage. Heck he probably used a time frozen you as leverage. I felt it was best to leave that unmentioned until now." Dani explained to her predecessor as they gathered up the last of the Fenton technology and headed out an exit. It all was making sense now because Danny recalled only wearing a time medallion once.

"What did you use to remove the time medallion?" Danny inquired again.

"Oh this, it is the netting from the Ghostcatcher." She showed with a grin.

"Oh my gosh, Dani you're brilliant." He squealed with excitement.

"Well I am a Fenton afterall." She chuckled and grinned wryly as they passed by various ghost fighting agents in their gear.


	18. Victory and a New Start

Chapter 18

Eventually the both of them were able to regain their strength and walk for quite a distance away from the paused agents and the final battling field. That power that the Dark Phantom used on them affected ghosts but not humans so much. Soon their ghost powers began to return and Danielle felt that time needed to flow again and so she unpaused her time piece. Soon Danny and Danielle could hear birds chirping, a pleasant breeze, and distant chatter but not for the government's ghost fighting agents because they were too far away.

They couldn't leave time paused forever because Danny needed to return to his family and former life which would include Danielle becoming an official part of his family and thus become the future heroine she was to be. Still he didn't know how to approach this situation although his family and friends would be thrilled to hear of the enemy defeated and the danger he posed was now nonexistent. However his joy and excitement were compromised with the feeling of great disappointment of his parents knowing that they were kept in the dark about everything that had to do with his ghost powers public superhero status. They were no doubt going to be upset with Jazz for not telling them about once she found out.

"Dani, how did Mom and Dad handle the news of me having ghost powers?" He inquired of his clone.

"Well you revealed your powers with Mom present in a different setting. It was during a major ghost attack but not with that monster we faced. In fact you were saving a future friend of yours and Mom was injured at the time too. You originally thought that she was unconscious as well but she saw you go ghost. Still she was very vocal about the whole thing and told Dad about it. At first he thought that Mom had hit her head or something. In fact they almost made you give up your powers and cut ties with Tucker and Sam." The clone explained.

"Where they mad at Jazz too?" He asked.

"Oh you bet they were mad at Jazz too. They found out about once you accidentally mentioned her knowledge about your powers. She was defending you and why your powers were a good thing at the time." She answered but then continued on. "I really don't think I'm at much of a liberty about what I reveal whether it is from the future or alternate one. If that incident does happen it will likely have new outcome, one without you and Jazz getting grounded. Yeah but they didn't take it too well at first."

Danny's gut wrenched, but perhaps this situation would be different. Afterall he and his clone prevented a mass murdering terrorist from killing or harming them as well as thousands if not millions of other people. His mind raced on what to say and do during the situation. They were heading closer and closer to the cave.

"Danny you won't need to worry too much more about that grandson of the blonde jokes Dash Bozo, Buffoon, or whatever you want to call him. Dumb Dash is going to get a rival who is every bit as athletic as he is if not more but sure as heck a lot nicer, smarter, and way more principled than Dash has ever acted at least to my memory. Jazz even dated him plus the rival was the first to call Dash 'brain damaged.' I'm also good friends with his younger brother." Danielle stated trying to get Danny hopes up.

Eventually they reached the cave with the Fenton Jet. They activated it to head to the cabin hideout where the Fentons and friends were hiding. Danny figured that it was best to let Danielle pilot the jet while he contacted his family and friends.

"Well, here goes everything." He thought as he contacted them.

Once they found out he and his clone were safe and successful everyone burst into cheers with enthusiasm. They couldn't wait to see them and ask about how they defeated that dreaded monster. It seemed like Mr. and Mrs. Fenton either didn't mind Danny having ghost powers or gotten over their disappointment. They sure seemed to be excited about leaving the semi finished hideout and even prepacked ahead of time just in case.

Quickly they packed up the jet and left hopefully with Vlad never knowing that they hid in one of his cabins/hideouts. Speaking of which where was Vlad? Surely he and many others received the messages that the Fentons sent out to evacuate the city and other nearby communities. He strangely disappeared while everyone else was accounted for. Danielle and Danny strongly suspected that the Dark Phantom most likely might have kidnapped him in order to assure his existence and future.

On the flight back the hybrids explained how they were finally able to defeat the enemy by using the netting of the Ghostcatcher to filter out a time medallion that he was using to keep his existence intact so that he could re-create or create a new situation in which his existence would be assured and safe.

"Ironically he was defeated by a hybrid in human form again." Danny stated with a big grin. "This time it was Danielle and that he got too close to her."

"True." Danielle laughed. "If he kept his distance I would've had less of a chance. Thank goodness he had to savor the moment. Ghosts can be as vain as humans."

It didn't take long for them to return to Amity Park to which they sent out messages to public officials (including Mayor Vlad Masters) that the danger was gone and the city was once again safe to inhabit. Their reasons for leaving was to track and analyze this ghost in order to obtain knowledge about how to defeat him. They needed to lure him away from the public for safety reasons. Plus, Danny Phantom was going to need all the help he could get.

Since Danielle was likely to leave soon they decided to delay unpacking in order to ask a few more questions about Danielle and spend a little more time with her as well.

"Um Danielle, where are you right now? Do you remember?" Jazz asked.

"Yes, I'm in your home. Specifically in the living room genius." Dani answer wryly. Giggles erupted among the others especially Tucker.

"I meant where is the younger present you, right now."Jazz clarified.

"Unfortunately I don't really remember now because it was all a blur trying to avoid Vlad, ghost hunters, and possible ghost enemies.

"But how did we come across you? Did you seek us out or did we just bump into you by coincidence?" Jazz asked.

"It was mainly a coincidence but I'm not going to say everything. I must say there are several ghosts that have authority over time travel. I don't think I'm at liberty to say at this but I don't think it's really going to matter anymore." Danielle replied. "Oh, and by the way Jazz, don't try to girlify me or psychoanalyze me. I'm going to not only hate it but resist it." Dani added with a slight smile as if the whole experience was humorous in hindsight.  
"Is there anything else we ought to know about?" Jack asked Dani.

"Yeah, don't send me to school right away because not only am I going to hate it but it will be a disaster because I'm wasn't ready for it. I won't have the social skills yet to become a proper student once you find me." She added.

Suddenly an unfamiliar voice called out for Danielle. Jack and Maddie got edgy and fired up their ecto-weapons. Danielle was the least reactive because she recognized this voice but was cautious. Tucker was bold enough with the armed Mr. and Mrs. Fenton next to him. He was not only among the first and most daring to take a peek in the room the voice originated from but the first to announce it. There he saw what he could only describe an adult Danny Phantom.

"Umm….There's someone here to see us but I think he's here for you Danielle." Tucker mention. "I think he just came inside as in phased inside." He added while pointing to an adjacent room once they came back in.

Everyone felt their hearts skip a few beats to what they anticipating but they were cautious just to be sure. Mr. and Mrs. Fenton had their weapons ready just in case. Could it be the future version of Danny be inside? Hopefully he will be the good, legitimate, hybrid version. Quickly Danielle got up to be the first one to come across him just in case this was a trick. She didn't want the time stream to be contaminated any more than it was.

Just as she entered a slightly tall muscular young man a little older than her stood in front her. He looked just like the Danny she grew up with and fought with. However she knew better than to automatically trust him. They exchanged a few words without the others being able to hear. Suddenly there they both erupted into cheers which was a signal to others that the situation was safe that enemy truly was defeated. The reunion was a joyous relief for everyone.

It turned out both of them asked each other very specific questions about one another which their modern friends and family wouldn't know…yet. They both were trying to make sure that this wasn't an imposter. It was a relief to everyone else to see how Danny was going to look like in the future. At least that fire headed caped terrorist was a thing of the past or better yet a thing of an alternate timeline. Danielle almost fainted during peak of the excitement. The future Danny caught her and carried her part of the way while they were getting ready to leave. She was then able to stand on her own while a portable portal device was prepared for them to leave.

The Danny of her time period whispered something in her ear just as they were about to return to their present time period. She reacted as if Danny told her a tasteless joke. They needed to leave anyway and couldn't stay to socialize.

"Danny, that's not funny at all. Especially after what I just went through. You darn know that my husband was feeling the same way so that can't be it." She hissed. Danielle felt her legs and balance fail as if she was becoming so upset that she was about to faint again but then Danny caught and picked her up.

"No seriously you are and there's a reason." He rebutted. He then proceeded to speak in a softer tone so that their current family and friends couldn't hear as well as they passed through the portal in their ghost forms.

"If Danielle isn't sick what could be causing her symptoms? Could it be stress? Sam asked.

"I think I heard him say couvade or something like that. Let me see if I can look it up on the internet." Tucker stated but then Jazz piped up with an excited cheer of realization. Everyone else knew from past expirience that Jazz was not only positive but this good news in some way.

"Oh my gosh, I know what that is. Danielle is expecting because couvade is pregnancy symptoms in men."

"Whoa, wait. Are you saying that Danielle is going to be a mom?" Tucker asked to be absolutely sure. Jazz assured him so. Everyone else seemed to be dumbstruck as if they didn't know what to say or if their minds were still processing the news.

"Gee this is an awkward way to learn that you're going to be an uncle or a grandparent since she's your clone and technically your daughter." Tucker stated.

"Tucker you realize that you're making this situation more awkward than it is? Even more I think we need to go home and keep your big mouth shut about this." Sam whispered keeping her voice low but not as low as she intended.

"Sam is right." Maddie stated as she broke her silence. "You two better head home. Your folks are probably are worried sick about you."

After Tucker and Sam honored Maddie's dismissal request she turned her attention toward her two known/current children.

"Danny, Jasmine, I ought to ground the both of you until you're old enough to leave the house and fend for yourselves. However I think it's better that you clean out that junk room at the end of the hall. If Danielle is going to defeat that future evil ghost version of you one day she's going to need a place stay and someone to mentor her." Maddie said as she eyed on Danny during the last part. It was as if she was giving him a vital task rather than the typical grounding. Still it could be a form of punishment and he didn't know what his mom or dad had in mind for Jazz.

The next day Danny met up with his friends at the park about the news. He explained how his parents took the news of him being part ghost better than he hoped. They were so close to grounding both him and Jazz plus getting rid of his powers but they seemed to figure out another option; tracking down Danielle and making her a permanent part of the Fenton family. She was definitely going to need the guidance of the original Danny Phantom, a family herself, and knowledge of ghost tracking and fighting gear in order to prevent a catastrophe from happening. So instead Danny and Jazz were tasked with doing some major reorganizing in the home in order to make a room for her. If they didn't one of them would have to share a room with Danielle. Both teenagers valued their space and privacy and agreed to their parents' (mainly the mom's) terms.

"So, any word about Vlad's absence? He wasn't seen except for that imposter." Sam inquired.

"He's back in office although officials and most of the media seem to be buying his story about being captured and imprisoned by that evil ghost." Tucker announced as he showed the article on his PDA. It featured a rather disheveled Vlad with a bit of fright in his eyes as if he went through something traumatic. Danny was positive that Vlad's statements had truth to them. He was certain the only reason why the Dark Phantom didn't destroy him was because Vlad was crucial for his existence to become a reality in this timeline.

Now there was another issue; where was the present Danielle and how to find her? Would she be willing to accept the invitation to be adopted by the Fentons? The future Danielle wouldn't say much as if she was under oath. Still she had to be found and kept safe from Vlad and other ghost hunters. Still that meant that Vlad could easily be all the more determined to capture Danielle to use her or more likely study her. Danny and his friends were certain that there were several more clones of him that were made. He wasn't likely to stop trying to make a 'perfect Danny Phantom clone' anytime soon. Since Valerie publically attacked him and declared him a threat he was no doubt going to distance himself from her and most likely do away with her.

"Say Danny maybe you could ask Frostbite if you could borrow the Infi-Map. It would lead you directly to her in no time." Tucker suggested.

"That is a good idea but risky. We don't want Vlad getting ahold of the map again." Sam stated. Then she continued. "I think we should all work on our Esperanto and see if we can meet up with Wulf in the woods by Lake Eerie. Wulf is a pretty good tracker but he's weak in English."

Danny's mind then lit up. It was a smart but simple idea. He should've thought of it himself. Even more Wulf could alert them to danger such as Vlad or other ghost hunters trying to pull a fast one on them.

"Uh, Danny you might want to properly introduce Wulf to your family so that they know that he's here to help and possibly protect. If your folks are going to be cool with you having ghost powers and fighting ghosts they ought to know who your enemies and allies are." Tucker added.

"Good point. I don't want to severe that tie and have Wulf think I betrayed him. It was bad enough that my mom sent him back into the Ghost Zone that one time. Although there wasn't really anything I could do at the time for him." Danny agreed.

"So when are you going to start?" Tucker asked his best friend.

"Definitely check out the woods near Lake Eerie. That is the last time we saw him." Danny answered. However he was unsure if he would still be around there. Still he had to check it out because it was the only lead he had at the time. Even more how were they supposed to explain this to Wulf?

"So are you both open to the addition of another member of Team Phantom?" Danny asked his friends.

"Oh heck yeah." Stated Tucker. "With her on our side, we'll be at least twice as good as before. Maybe each member of the team should be cloned or something."

"Tucker you realize that we're going to be admitting the younger Danielle as in the present one of our timeline not future hottie you're crushing on? Let's nevermind the whole cloning thing, Danielle is a good exception but I doubt all clones will be like her. So let's not risk it." Sam stated in her objection.

"Sam do you realize that I'm just kidding. Gee you really need to lighten up." Tucker confessed.

Sam blushed and apologized. "Sorry about that Tucker it's just been so crazy having to put up with contaminated timelines. I mean everything is so confusing and stressful." She admitted.

"Sam, I'm the one in the most stressful situation. I've been meaning to tell my parents about my powers but it got thrown in their faces without any fault of your own." Danny stated to both of his friends. "If you ask me, I'm going to say the answer to the million dollar question is how to get Danielle adjusted to my family after we find and take her in."

"Still how do your parents adopt her?" Tucker asked. "She can't have any records like a birth certificate or the sort. She's off the grid and a literal ghost. How are they going to convince any adoption agency or the government?"

"There are ways around that." Sam answered trying to be helpful. "One of my aunts has a friend who has connections with various people and organizations that have done some adoption work for children born into cults or off the grid in other ways. Technically they're going to be stretching the truth a bit but who's going to argue that she's younger than seven?" If they can estimate a close enough age that's good enough. It's tricky but it can be done especially if you know the right people." Sam explained.

"Uh, this still means nighttime missions, right?" Tucker asked.

"True, but at least I won't feel so guilty about going behind my parents' back." Danny stated.

"Yeah but you can't do the whole 'find Danielle' guise forever Danny." Tucker added.

"Right but I can use it to start with and find other reasons to hunt ghosts." Danny answered.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's start." Sam declared.

Suddenly a familiar cry of "Beware" was heard along with the screams of frightened picnickers.

"Yes, Sam but after this." Danny replied has he gone into a grove of trees to change into his Phantom form to deal with the Box Ghost.


End file.
